Mapleshade's Destiny
by Rainy Daze Writer
Summary: You think you know her. But Mapleshade wasn't always the mad, bloodthirsty warrior of the Dark Forest that we see her as. In fact, she was once a kit... a kit with hope, a kit with dreams. And an apprentice - an apprentice who aspired for greatness. And finally, a warrior who didn't know where to turn. You think you know her. But you know nothing.
1. Prologue and Allegiances

**I was writing Mapleshade's Destiny pretty happily when all of a sudden I realized I hadn't posted the allegiances. So here they are. Also, since apparently all stories need content in every chapter, I am going to put the prologue into this.**

* * *

_**ThunderClan**_

**Leader:**

Breezestar – handsome long-furred black tom with white paws and chest and green eyes. _(Rushpaw)_

**Deputy:**

Emberfoot – large, thick-pelted ginger and white tom with ginger paws and blue eyes.

**Medicine Cat:**

Mistyfur – long-furred silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes. _(Blizzardpaw)_

**Warriors:**

Robinfeather – russet she-cat with white chest and tail-tip and golden eyes.

Mallowleaf – slender pale grey and white she-cat with yellow eyes. _(Copperpaw)_

Needlepine – muscular dark tabby tom with dark amber eyes and long, sharp claws. _(Shredpaw)_

Finchfur – sand-colored tom with blue eyes and white tail and ear tips.

Marshfoot – skinny, jumpy dark grey tabby tom with wide, almost guilty-looking yellow eyes.

Birchpelt – black and white tom with grey tail-tip and green eyes.

Antclaw – lithe faded russet she-cat with white paws and blue eyes.

Ravenwing – glossy black tom flecked with silver with golden eyes.

Nightheart – patient faded tortoiseshell she-cat with a black chest and belly and green eyes.

Salmontail – long-furred pinky-silver she-cat with wide blue eyes.

**Apprentices:**

Rushpaw – swift grey tabby tom with white front paws and a black tail.

Blizzardpaw – friendly, hefty thick-furred white tom with pale blue eyes.

Copperpaw – dark ginger she-cat with amber eyes.

Shredpaw – fierce, impatient dark brown tabby tom with dark green eyes.

**Queens and Kits:**

Thistlefur – pretty silver queen with tufted ears and strange blue-purple eyes; mother to Needlepine's kits, Flowerkit (pale grey tabby she-kit with blue eyes) and Daisykit (dark grey and white she-kit with blue eyes).

Duckfoot – light grey queen with black spots, strange webbed paws, and green eyes; mother to Emberfoot's kits, Maplekit (fiery thick-furred tortoiseshell and white she-kit with amber eyes and a white tail and muzzle) and Willowkit (weak, small silver tabby she-kit with soft fur and amber eyes).

**Elders:**

Littlefang – elderly ginger tom missing his four canine teeth with clouded green eyes.

Fogfur – long-furred pale grey she-cat with one blue eye and one blind white eye.

* * *

_**RiverClan**_

**Leader:**

Rubystar – beautiful, well-respected russet she-cat with broad shoulders and warm golden eyes.

**Deputy:**

Smoothpelt – sleek, glossy silver and black tabby tom with green eyes. _(Pebblepaw)_

**Medicine Cat:**

Brooksplash – pretty blue-grey she-cat with gentle blue eyes.

**Warriors:**

Mossflame – pale ginger and cream she-cat with green eyes. _(Poolpaw)_

Ripplestream – strict, grumpy dark grey tom with green eyes.

Troutfur – pale tabby tom with amber eyes.

Lakepelt – dark blue-grey tom with mint-green eyes. _(Oceanpaw)_

Diveclaw – lithe black she-cat with pale blue eyes. _(Fishpaw)_

Heroncall – loud, energetic white tom with blue-grey speckles and green eyes.

Juniperleaf – massive bright ginger tom with white paws and chest and blue eyes.

Rowanfur – dark tortoiseshell tom with yellow eyes.

Almondfall – pale brown and cream tabby she-cat with pale golden eyes.

Nutclaw – small, timid pale tabby tom with pale golden eyes.

**Apprentices:**

Pebblepaw – proud dark silver tabby and white tom with blue eyes.

Poolpaw – small, silver-blue she-cat with yellow eyes.

Oceanpaw – large, muscular blue-grey tom with white paws and green eyes.

Fishpaw – dark silver she-cat with blue eyes and pale silver spots.

**Queens and Kits:**

Cardinalfeather – pretty russet queen with green eyes; mother to Troutfur's kits, Pouncekit (white she-kit with green eyes), Bouncekit (black and white tom with green eyes), and Leapkit (jet-black tom with green eyes).

Lightsky – pale blue-grey and white queen with blue eyes; pregnant with Heroncall's kits.

**Elders:**

Rumblefoot – grouchy, achy dark tabby tom with green eyes.

Birdflight – once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes.

Deadeyes – tabby tom with terrible scars over his face, blinding him.

* * *

_**ShadowClan**_

**Leader:**

Crowstar – jet black, muscular tom with white chest and ears and green eyes.

**Deputy:**

Darkcloud – dark grey tom with yellow eyes.

**Medicine Cat:**

Hawkwing – pale tabby tom with green eyes.

**Warriors:**

Falconclaw – fierce, massive tabby tom with amber eyes. _(Cloudpaw)_

Eagletalon – fierce, large tabby tom with amber eyes. _(Stormpaw)_

Sprintleg – swift, small-framed, lithe black she-cat with blue eyes. _(Skypaw)_

Shadeclaw – grey tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

Poppyfur – russet she-cat with green eyes.

Maggottail – ugly cream-colored tom with baleful blue eyes whose tail was cut off by a Twoleg contraption.

Scorchclaw – fierce dark ginger tom with white paws and chest and green eyes.

Dawnfur – silver she-cat with blue eyes.

Olivepelt – grey tabby she-cat with green eyes.

Shrewtail – skinny brown tom with amber eyes.

Beestripe – black and gold tom with blue eyes.

**Apprentices:**

Cloudpaw – thick-furred pale grey tom with blue eyes.

Stormpaw – skinny dark grey tom with blue eyes.

Skypaw – skinny white tom with blue eyes.

**Queens and Kits:**

Leafbreeze – pretty cream and white queen with green eyes; expecting Scorchclaw's kits.

**Elders:**

Twistedtail – handsome elderly russet tom with green eyes and a tail in a corkscrew twist.

Frecklemist – frail elderly pale grey she-cat with white speckles and watery blue eyes; former ShadowClan leader.

* * *

_**WindClan**_

**Leader:**

Sparrowstar – small, mottled brown tabby she-cat with scar over one of her amber eyes. _(Silverpaw)_

**Deputy:**

Dewthorn – pale blue-grey she-cat with sharp claws and green eyes.

**Medicine Cat:**

Swanmask – pretty silver she-cat with a black face and paws and ice blue eyes.

**Warriors:**

Turtleshell – grey tabby she-cat with a dark tabby splotch across her back and green eyes. _(Lizardpaw)_

Shardclaw – sharp-clawed white tom with dark green eyes. _(Adderpaw)_

Heavyfoot – hefty, large black and white tom with green eyes. _(Sunpaw)_

Blossomsong – beautiful silver tabby she-cat with kindly blue eyes and pinky-silver stripes.

Owlcry – fierce but honorable mottled tawny brown tom with yellow eyes. _(Aspenpaw)_

Sunblaze – vivid ginger tom with white paws and black tail and amber eyes.

Morningfleck – white she-cat with faded ginger paws, tail, stripes, and face and green eyes.

Buzzardwing – black and brown tabby tom with white face, paws, and chest and blue eyes.

Honeyrush – pretty pale gold she-cat with hazel eyes.

Badgerstreak – white-striped black tom with several scars from battling badgers and green eyes.

Tawnyfur – muscular tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes.

Sedgewolf – shaggy grey and white she-cat with grey-green eyes.

**Apprentices:**

Silverpaw – arrogant, ambitious pale grey tabby tom with yellow eyes and a ragged pelt.

Lizardpaw – skinny, flexible tabby she-cat with amber eyes.

Adderpaw – mottled grey-brown tom with green eyes.

Sunpaw – bright ginger and white tom with blue eyes.

Aspenpaw – pale tabby she-cat with one green eye and one blue eye.

**Queens and Kits:**

Duststreak – dark grey queen with pale grey stripes and blue eyes; mother to Owlcry's kits, Volekit (scrawny pale tabby tom with yellow eyes) and Weaselkit (skinny pale tabby she-kit with green eyes).

Tigerfrost – dark tabby queen with ice-blue eyes; mother to Shardclaw's kit, Nettlekit (spiky-furred dark tabby tom with green eyes).

Riverfern – pretty blue-grey queen with vivid green eyes; expecting Sunblaze's kits.

**Elders:**

Sageflame – pale grey she-cat flecked with ginger, with green eyes.

Rainseeker – blue-grey tom with misty blue eyes; formerly the medicine cat.

Redsky – russet and tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.

* * *

"Has she come at last?"

The light grey tabby stepped forward, eyes wide, to look at the other cats around her. Their starry fur shimmered lightly as they turned to her.

"Mistriver," a black tom mewed softly, beckoning her over with his tail. "Join us."

She sat down beside him, grey paws fidgeting on the springy grass of StarClan. "Has the shadow come?" Mistriver asked again, looking around the circle of StarClan warriors.

"Yes, Jayshadow, hurry it up. Is this the cat?" A dark tabby she-cat stepped forward and dabbed lightly at the pool of water the cats sat around, causing a ripple to pass across its silver surface. As the water cleared, a tiny kit became clear – a tortoiseshell and white she-kit. She was minutes old, still damp from being born, but was strong.

"Hold on, Cedarpelt," the black tom growled, flicking one ear to dismiss her. He scanned the circle. "Are we all here?"

"Is it her?" Mistriver mewed yet another time.

The dark tabby curled her lip. "We're all here. Now tell us, before Fluffy here has a nervous breakdown." Her tail lashed and she jutted her chin out at Mistriver, whose wide eyes revealed that she was borderline panicking.

Jayshadow dipped his head. "Very well. You all know the prophecy, so I won't repeat it. But… yes," he mewed at last. "I think this is her."

"How can you be so sure? What if she chooses another path?" a beautiful golden she-cat argued, padding forward.

The black tom dipped his head to her. "Thank you, Peachfur. That's true, the kit may choose the path of light. There is no way to know, but all we can do is try to put her paws on the right path."

"Enough of these cryptic messages," Cedarpelt hissed. "I say we tell her right out what her destiny is. That'll keep her on the right path." She strode up to Jayshadow angrily, ears pricked forward and claws unsheathed. "To keep it from her would be foolish. Do you really think it's better to appear in dreams and whisper sweet nothings into her ears?"

He narrowed his green eyes. "Cedarpelt. You know we can't simply tell a cat their destiny." He paused, looking around the circle past the angry she-cat in his face. "We need someone to communicate with her as she grows. Who will do so?"

There was a moment of silence. No cat was willing to take on the task of teaching the kit and being the one at fault if she fulfilled her dark destiny.

"Fools. Cowards and fools, all of you," Cedarpelt growled, glaring at the cats in the circle. Then she turned back to Jayshadow. "I'll do it. You can watch me every second if you wish to make sure I won't break your precious rule, but know this – you will not interfere unless I do so."

Jayshadow narrowed his eyes. "This task is a difficult one. Are you sure that you're prepared to face the consequences?"

Cedarpelt stepped back, away from him, and nodded bitterly. "Yes. I will do everything I can to set her on the right path – _without_ telling her exactly what that path is. I promise."

"Then I give her into your paws. May you influence her to do the right thing," Jayshadow meowed quietly. After he did so, the circle of cats stood and melted into the lush forest of StarClan, leaving Cedarpelt standing there gazing down at the pool. She sat down by the water and looked down at the tiny kit.

_"The maple sapling starts small. But as it grows, it will cast a shadow that will shroud the Clans in darkness as long as it stands."_


	2. Chapter 1

"Maplekit! Maplekit!"

Maplekit stretched open her eyes and blinked up at Flowerkit. The pale grey she-kit was towering above her, eyes wide.

"Maplekit! Shredpaw said he's going to teach us the hunting crouch!"

_Hunting!_ She bounced to her paws. "Let's go outside!"

The older kit burst out of the nursery, tearing away across the clearing. Maplekit peeked out after her, then turned back. "Come on, Willowkit! Shredpaw's going to teach us to hunt!" She bounced on her paws lightly, impatient to head out. "Hurry up!"

"I don't want to go outside," her sister grumbled, wrapping her pale silver tail tighter around her frail body. "I'm cold."

Duckfoot, their mother, tucked Willowkit under one paw and narrowed her eyes at Maplekit. "Your sister isn't strong enough to go play outside in leaf-fall. Don't bother her." Maplekit's excitement dissolved as she watched her mother lap gently at her sister. _It's no fun playing without you, Willowkit. Come on!_ She willed her sister to get up and come outside, but the silver tabby didn't react.

Sighing, Maplekit trudged outside with her white paws feeling like stones. Still, upon seeing Shredpaw, she brightened. The dark brown tabby was crouching down, bony haunches sticking out at awkward angles, in front of Daisykit and Flowerkit.

"Hi," Maplekit mewed, feeling awkward. _He's big!_ Shredpaw was the youngest apprentice, only out of the nursery for a moon, but still loomed far over the three-moon-old Maplekit.

He blinked at her, dark green eyes friendly. "Hi, Maplekit. Did you come to learn the hunting crouch, too?"

Flowerkit waved her dappled silver tail, purring. "Of course she is! But _I_ don't think you're doing it right." She poked Shredpaw in the side and, off-balance, he staggered.

"Hey!" he growled, lashing his tail crossly. "I am so!"

"You're right," Daisykit mewed, circling him cheerfully. "You're just so skinny that it looks funny!"

"I am not _skinny_," Shredpaw protested, leaping to his paws and glaring at the two she-kits.

"Guys, quit teasing him or he won't show us the hunting crouch!" Maplekit complained, rolling her eyes. _Furballs._ "Do it again, Shredpaw."

He twitched his whiskers. "Thanks, Maplekit. Now, you have to crouch like this" – he bent onto all fours, paws tucked under his shoulders – "and keep your tail really still." Maplekit watched, awed, as he kept himself perfectly still.

Then, abruptly, Shredpaw rolled over onto his side, yelping. Flowerkit stood on his other side, paw extended after prodding him again. "Got you!" she purred, bouncing happily.

"He tries to be tough, but he still has a fluffy belly!" Daisykit yowled, poking Shredpaw in the gut.

He got to his paws again, towering over the two she-kits with green eyes blazing. "Stop! If you don't want to learn the hunting crouch, why did you ask in the first place?"

Flowerkit rolled her eyes. "Who needs to hunt anyway? The other cats can do that. I'm going to be a warrior!" She lunged forward at Shredpaw, swiping at his shoulder with tiny claws unsheathed.

"Hey, stop!" Maplekit exclaimed, padding forward. "You're gonna hurt him!"

Shredpaw blocked Flowerkit with a single paw, causing her to fall with a bump to the hard-packed ground in the camp, and glared down at her. "Even the apprentices don't use their claws when training, mousebrain. Otherwise we'd all be battle-scarred without even being in battles."

"Ow!" Flowerkit yowled, blue eyes wide. "That hurt! Thistlefur, Shredpaw is bullying me! Make him stop!"

Behind Maplekit, Thistlefur exploded out of the nursery, fur standing on end and blue-purple eyes narrowed to slits of anger. She stalked up to the dark tabby apprentice, tail lashing angrily, and nearly stomped on Maplekit on her way. "What do you think you're doing to Flowerkit?" she fumed. Maplekit blinked in awe as the queen unsheathed her claws and sank them into the dirt beneath her paws. "How dare you bully her? She's only four moons old – you're older, you should know better!"

"But I –" Shredpaw began to protest, but Thistlefur cut him off again.

"I won't have you bullying my kits anymore! Go back to the apprentices' den; when I tell Needlepine about this, he'll have you cleaning the elders' den for the next two moons!" she hissed at Shredpaw.

"Yes, Thistlefur," he muttered mutinously, flattening his ears and turning away. As he padded past Flowerkit, Maplekit saw her denmate smirk at him.

"Maplekit! What are you staring at? Let's play moss-ball!" Daisykit's yowl interrupted her train of thought, and she turned eagerly.

"Yeah!" Maplekit agreed, bouncing forward. "I'm going to catch it the most times!"

Still, when she glanced at the apprentices' den, Maplekit could see Shredpaw glaring out at Flowerkit, rage burning in his green eyes.


	3. Chapter 2

"Maplepaw! Willowpaw! Maplepaw! Willowpaw!"

At long last, Maplepaw was an apprentice with her sister! She gazed around the Clan, eyes wide, until Ravenwing flicked her side with his silver-flecked tail. "Come on, Maplepaw. I was due to join the ShadowClan border patrol, but Breezestar kept me back. Guess I know why now! Anyway, I think it'll be good to have you start your apprenticeship with a tour of part of the territory."

"I get to do a border patrol on my _first day_?" Maplepaw breathed. _That's so awesome! No wonder Breezestar gave me Ravenwing – he's the coolest warrior in the whole Clan!_ She raised her head proudly, displaying her fluffy white chest proudly. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Ravenwing twitched his whiskers and got to his paws, heading towards the camp entrance. Maplepaw began to follow, but stopped and looked back at Willowpaw. Her smaller sister was sitting next to her mentor, Antclaw, with a tired look on her face. "Wait, Ravenwing. Can Willowpaw come, too?" Maplepaw mewed hopefully.

"No, sorry," Ravenwing replied, sounding strange. "She… ah… the border patrol doesn't need that many cats, or any ShadowClan cats along the border will think we're attacking. We don't want you to get in a fight on your first day as an apprentice, since you don't know any battle moves."

"Oh. Okay." Maplepaw sighed and followed him towards the exit. As she did, she caught Antclaw's soft mew.

"Come on, Willowpaw, let's go gather moss. I know you don't want to go too far out of the camp."

* * *

_ThunderClan territory is way bigger than I expected,_ Maplepaw though as she scrambled over what must have been the tenth fallen tree. She'd fallen in three holes, startled a plump robin that could have fed three cats, and gotten tangled in the bushes more times than she could count. Her paws ached from all the running. And yet Ravenwing was still padding forward swiftly, not even out of breath.

Then she heard the meow of voices up ahead and pricked her ears curiously. She could vaguely recognize the voices as Mallowleaf, Needlepine, Copperfur, and Shredpaw.

"That's the patrol," Ravenwing informed her, and picked up the pace.

"No! Wait! I'm not as fast as you!" Maplepaw moaned, running after him. Suddenly she burst out of the bushes, nearly running over Shredpaw.

"Whoa! Hi, Maplekit. Or is it Maplepaw now? You look the same!" he teased, purring.

Ravenwing nodded to Mallowleaf and Copperfur, then turned to Needlepine. "I've come to join the patrol with my new apprentice."

"You're sure that your apprentice should be on a border patrol?" Mallowleaf interjected, eyes glimmering with worry. "If ShadowClan attack us, she won't be able to fight or defend herself."

Needlepine snorted. "Please. ShadowClan wouldn't dare attack ThunderClan. We've still got plenty of prey and we're the strongest Clan in the forest right now. Besides…" he nudged Shredpaw, nearly knocking the skinny apprentice over. "… I can take them all. Right, Shredpaw?"

"Right," the dark tabby tom muttered. As the only cat shorter than him, Maplepaw saw the mutinous glare he shot at the ground.

"Well then," Ravenwing mewed, "let's go, then. Oh, by the way, Maplepaw, we're going to come across something called the Thunderpath. Be very careful around it – and _don't_ step on it!"

He was right. Soon enough, a foul smell filled the air. It made Maplepaw's fur prickle as she rubbed her tongue across the roof of her mouth, trying to scrape away the stink. "Is that the Thunderpath?" she coughed.

"You get used to its stench eventually," Ravenwing assured her, smoothing her pelt with his tail kindly. She blinked at him, glad to have such a nice mentor.

They approached with caution. Maplepaw gazed in awe at the wide, smelly expanse of black stone, though her eyes stung. All of a sudden, a huge silver creature came barreling down the Thunderpath headed straight for them. Maplepaw cringed, expecting it to attack, but the thing roared past as if it hadn't seen them.

"That was a monster," Ravenwing growled. "There are lots of different ones of different colors and sizes, but for some reason they never leave the Thunderpath. Twolegs climb into their bellies and then the monster takes them places, I think."

"What? Why don't they just walk?" Maplepaw mewed, confused.

"Twolegs are weird," Shredpaw replied with a shrug. "Maybe they go places too far to walk?"

"Hang on," Copperfur mewed. Her dark ginger fur was rising along her spine, and her amber eyes were narrowed. "I think I can smell ShadowClan on this side of the border. It's as if they're –"

But before she could say anything, the bushes around them suddenly erupted and five cats leaped out, fur on end and eyes glaring. One of them, a massive tabby, landed on Copperfur and sank his claws into her pelt.

"Ambush!" Ravenwing yowled, swiping angrily at the face of another tabby tom. "Maplepaw, run!"

She stared at him in shock. The five cats stank of mold and rotting wood, but they clearly had the advantage over four skinny warriors and two apprentices. Then one cat, a snarling cream-colored tom with scars across his face and no tail, turned to her. His blue eyes glittered with malice.

"What's this? ThunderClan brought a kit to help them fight?" he sneered, unsheathing his claws.

Maplepaw backed up, feeling more like Maple_kit_ every second, as he advanced. _But I can't fight! What do I do?!_ The ugly tom loomed over her, sneering, and raised one paw. His claws seemed impossibly long and sharp.

"Don't you dare!"

Suddenly a dark tabby shape flew out of nowhere and slammed into the warrior, knocking him onto his side. Maplepaw blinked. _Shredpaw!_

The apprentice looked more like a warrior than ever before as he pinned down the other cat, placing one paw with unsheathed claws at his neck. "Don't you dare hurt Maplepaw, you maggot!"

"Heh. You know my name," the cream tom smirked. Then he kicked out with his hind legs, sending Shredpaw stumbling back – onto the Thunderpath. Shredpaw winced, struggling to get to his paws and flipping his tail angrily.

Then Maplepaw heard a roar that she'd heard before. A monster.

"Shredpaw, get up! Get off the Thunderpath!" she yowled, running forward. He raised his head and stared at her, green eyes wide.

An instant later, a huge blue monster blurred her vision.

Maplepaw staggered back, unable to take her eyes off of the Thunderpath. The monster passed by, showing Shredpaw lying perfectly still on the Thunderpath. His eyes were enormous.

"Snake-heart!" Ravenwing snarled, shoving the tabby he was fighting into the bushes and running to the cream tom. "What did you do to him, you fox-heart?"

"I didn't –" the tom began, but trailed off as Shredpaw began to screech.

"My tail!" he yowled at the top of his lungs. "It hurts! My tail!"

"Shredpaw!" Maplepaw exclaimed, padding forward tentatively. "You have to get off the Thunderpath before another monster attacks you!" Then she froze.

Shredpaw's tail was completely flat – like a leaf. And it was bleeding.

"Ravenwing!" she screeched, backing away in horror. "His tail!"

Her mentor snarled one last time at the cream tom before rushing to Maplepaw's side. "What happened to him?"

"I – I think a monster attacked him," Maplepaw whisper. "Look what it did to his tail." She could feel herself quivering like a leaf, but relief flowed through her when Ravenwing pressed against her and let her lean against him. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know," Ravenwing meowed quietly. "We need to take him to Mistyfur so she can look at him. You," he added, turning to the smelly cats. "Back into your territory."

"You think you can –" one of the tabby toms growled, taking a few pawsteps forward threateningly.

Ravenwing suddenly attacked, one paw flashing like lightning and tearing three large notches in the tom's already ragged ear. "I believe I told you to get back into your territory. Now _go_." The warriors looked at each other, then padded into a group. As they walked past Ravenwing, the cream tom shoved him. To his credit, Ravenwing barely moved.

As soon as they had vanished into the dark pine forests across the Thunderpath, Ravenwing moved to Shredpaw and gently took him by the scruff. "Come on," he said to Maplepaw. "We need to take him back to camp and report to Breezestar. You three," he added to the other warriors, "keep patrolling. We need to show ShadowClan that we're not afraid of them."

Needlepine looked as if he was about to object, but Mallowleaf slapped her tail over his mouth and nodded to Ravenwing. "All right. And get Maplepaw treatment for shock – this isn't something most cats would see on their first day being apprenticed. Copperfur, do you think you can continue?"

The ginger she-cat's fur was split across her muzzle where one of the cats had clawed her, but she nodded. "I'll be fine. It's nothing." Mallowleaf nodded, and the three warriors began to continue in the direction the patrol had been heading.

* * *

"What happened to him?" Mistyfur asked, narrowing her eyes as she sniffed Shredpaw's unmoving body.

"A monster ran over his tail," Ravenwing replied darkly. "ShadowClan attacked us, and one of their warriors pushed Shredpaw onto the Thunderpath. Maggottail, I believe."

Mistyfur curled her lip in disgust. "That wretch. He's probably celebrating that he's not the only Clan cat with a ruined tail anymore." She reached out with one paw and dragged some sweet-smelling leaves towards her. "I'm going to put some marigold on it to prevent infection, then cover it with cobwebs and give him some poppy seeds. However, I doubt that he'll be able to keep his whole tail. If it becomes infected, or if he loses all feeling in it, I'll…" she lowered her voice to Ravenwing, but Maplepaw still heard the rest, "… have to bite it off."

_Bite off his tail? How could Mistyfur do that to Shredpaw?_ Maplepaw wondered, beginning to quiver. Suddenly she realized just how exhausted she was.

"Maplepaw, come here," Mistyfur ordered gently. "Lick up some of this. It'll help you calm down and get some sleep." She pushed forward an oak leaf with a mix of herbs on it, and Maplepaw lapped at it, too tired to wince at the taste.

"Off you go, then," Mistyfur mewed briskly to Ravenwing and Maplepaw. "I need you all out of here so that I can treat my patient. And if you see Needlepine at any point, tell him to drop in and visit Shredpaw. Oh, and let Nightheart know as well – though of course you would already do that." And just like that, Maplepaw found herself standing outside the medicine den with her mentor beside her.

"Why does Nightheart need to know about Shredpaw?" Maplepaw meowed, puzzled.

"My sister?" Ravenwing echoed, looking lost for a moment. Then his eyes cleared. "Oh! Right, I suppose you wouldn't know. Nightheart is Shredpaw's mother. He was her only surviving kit out of a litter of three."

"She doesn't act like she's his mother, though. I didn't even know," Maplepaw pointed out. "Wait, does that mean you're his kin?"

The black tom nodded. "Yes, I am his kin. And, well, I think you've noticed that Shredpaw doesn't like a lot of attention. He never liked playing with the other kits, either – honestly, I'm rather impressed that he talks to you." He shook himself suddenly, sighing. "Well. I need to tell Nightheart what's happened. This wasn't the best first day, I know. Tomorrow, I'll start teaching you hunting techniques. Go get some sleep."

Maplepaw nodded but hesitated a second longer, watching as her mentor loped across the clearing to the faded tortoiseshell she-cat, then turned. Instinctively, she felt her paws turn to the nursery. _That's not right, is it? I'm an apprentice – I'm Maplepaw now!_ A burst of somewhat inappropriately-timed joy filled her, and her white paws were lighter as she headed to the apprentices' den.

Willowpaw was already curled up tightly in a nest, tail wrapped around her and covering up her small pinky-grey nose. The nest next to her was empty, so Maplepaw flopped into it with a sigh of relief.

With her sister's bony back pressing hers, Maplepaw closed her eyes and quickly fell into deep, dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

Hello, everyone! Rainy here with the next chapter of Mapleshade's Destiny. I wanted to thank the four of you who reviewed, and reply in short: all your questions will be answered later.

* * *

"Hey, wake up."

A paw prodded her side, and Maplepaw grunted indignantly. "Lemme sleep…"

"I said wake up! Sheesh, kit, how am I supposed to save the Clans when you won't even look at me?" Maplepaw groaned as she was pawed at again and opened her eyes. An elegant dark tabby she-cat was standing above her, amber eyes glinting with annoyance and long tail swishing impatiently around her legs.

She scrambled to her paws. _Where am I? This isn't ThunderClan's camp! What's going on?_ "Who are you? Where am I?"

The tabby stalked up to her and looked her over. Only then did Maplepaw notice the faint, twinkling stars in the cat's pelt. "You're… you're a StarClan cat, aren't you?" she gasped, whirling around. Now she could see that they were in a lush forest that smelled of prey. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, and the scent of many cats assaulted her nose all at once. Turning back to the tabby, she mewed, "I'm not a medicine cat. Why give _me_ a dream?"

To her surprise, the she-cat snorted with laughter. "Don't want anything to do with StarClan and prophecies, do you? I think the way you think, kit. Unfortunately, you were born with a prophecy hanging over your head like an owl watching a mouse." She sat down in a shady spot and drew her tongue over her paw a few times before focusing on Maplepaw again. "So. Introductions are in order, I guess. My name is Cedarpelt. And you are…?"

"M-Maplepaw," she stammered, sitting down next to the StarClan cat. "I… what do you mean, there's a prophecy hanging over my head?"

Cedarpelt blinked nonchalantly, turning away from Maplepaw and tilting her head to look up at the trees around them. "Well. I'm not really allowed to tell you exactly what it is."

"What?" Maplepaw yelped, bristling. _Why would she even visit me in a dream, then?_ "That's stupid! You could have just left me alone."

The tabby she cat whipped her head around startlingly fast – the movement made Maplepaw flinch back in expectance of anger. Instead, Cedarpelt's eyes were glowing proudly as she looked down at her, and her throat began to rumble in a purr. "Ha! I like you, kit. You say what you think." She curled her tail around her dark paws, flicking her ears. "I guess they won't argue if I tell you the prophecy. They do it all the time to leaders and medicine cats."

"Wait, but –" Maplepaw began, confused, but Cedarpelt twitched her tail over to cover the apprentices' mouth.

"Hush, kit. I don't want to have to yowl this at you while you're waking up. Now, then…" She cleared her throat loudly, then intoned in a matter-of-fact voice, "The maple sapling starts small. But as it grows, it will cast a shadow that will shroud the Clans in darkness as long as it stands."

_A shadow… what? What does that even mean?_ Maplepaw lapped hastily at her chest fur, not sure what to say. "I don't know what that means."

Cedarpelt sighed. "Believe me, I wish I could tell you. But some of the ancient StarClan cats apparently made a rule saying that we're not allowed to tell you anything, or at least not without making it weird and cryptic. You're lucky to get me; I'll tell you everything I can."

"But… what's the point of you just telling me a prophecy? How am I supposed to fulfill it?" Maplepaw mewed, shaking her head.

"Right. Ah, you may not want to fulfill that prophecy," Cedarpelt meowed awkwardly, and then cursed. "Fox-dung. This is harder than it looks. I'm not really allowed to say anything; even that wasn't supposed to be said. Sorry, kit." She whisked her tail irritably.

Maplepaw lashed her tail and stood up angrily. "What? I _shouldn't_ fulfill a prophecy? But then why was there a prophecy in the first place? That's so dumb! And I'm _not_ a kit, I'm an apprentice!"

Cedarpelt opened her mouth, apparently about to reply, but then she began to fade away, along with the forest of StarClan. "Mouse-dung," the tabby warrior swore. "Look, Maplepaw, I'll talk to you another time. Sorry for calling you kit – it's a habit! I'll talk to you another –" Before she could finish speaking, Maplepaw heard her name yowled and sat up in shock.

Willowpaw was standing in the entrance to the nursery, eyes wide and ragged fur fluffed up. "Maplepaw, wake up! Mistyfur is doing something to Shredpaw!"

_To Shredpaw? Is she biting his tail off?_ Maplepaw shot to her paws and rushed past Willowpaw. As she did, her shoulder knocked into Willowpaw's and her sister staggered.

"S-sorry, Willowpaw!" Maplepaw exclaimed, pausing to look back for only a second before running ahead.

"Ow!"

Maplepaw leaped back, realizing that she'd run into Needlepine. The dark tabby warrior narrowed his amber eyes at her. "What do you think you're doing, running around camp like that? You could run a cat down."

Maplepaw backed away, lowering her head. "Sorry, Needlepine. I didn't mean to run into you. I wanted to see if Shredpaw was okay." Just then, a yowl of agony filtered from the medicine cat's den. _Shredpaw!_ Maplepaw lunged forward, but was blocked by one dark tabby paw.

"I was just there," Needlepine meowed firmly. "Shredpaw's tail is infected and it hurts. But he's fine otherwise. You don't need to see that, Maplepaw." He looked away. "It's… it's not something an apprentice should see."

"But I already say what happened to his tail!" she protested. "I want to see Shredpaw!"

Needlepine shook his head. "You're his friend, I understand. But he'll be out of the medicine den soon, and you'll be able to talk to him then."

"Yeah, Maplepaw," Willowpaw echoed from behind her. "Come eat something with me. Shredpaw's gonna be fine."

Maplepaw turned around. Her sister had two pieces of prey – a massive, fat squirrel, unusual prey for leaf-bare, and a finch. "You're eating both of those?" she mewed in surprise.

"No, just the squirrel. The finch is for you, of course!" Willowpaw purred. "Come on. I bet Shredpaw will be out here in a couple of days. Why don't you train as hard as you can and catch him something good for when he's back on his paws again?"

_That's a good idea!_ Maplepaw nodded and settled down beside her sister, biting into the bird. As she did, she became aware of the size difference between them – her sister was a small, skinny cat while Maplepaw herself was much larger and steady on her paws. _I wouldn't have fallen over if it had been Willowpaw who bumped into me._

And Willowpaw was warm, too – Maplepaw could feel heat radiating from her even with half a tail-length between them. _Must be nice now that it's leaf-bare,_ she thought, chewing on the rich bird meat. Abruptly, Shredpaw let out another groan from inside the medicine den, and Maplepaw felt her pelt twitch uncomfortably.

"Maplepaw," she heard, and looked up. Ravenwing blinked down at her. "Today I'm going to teach you some hunting techniques, and then we're going to gather moss for the elders. Finish that bird and we'll head to the training area."

_Hunting! I can use the hunting crouch Shredpaw showed me!_ Maplepaw nodded and bit vigorously into the finch, chewing energetically. "Right!"


	5. Chapter 4

"Hey, Maplepaw!"

The yowl came from Shredpaw. She spun around, white tail nearly hitting Ravenwing, to look at him. "Yeah?" She bounded over to the dark tabby tom, blinking at him.

He purred and flicked his tail stump towards the Highrock, dark green eyes sparkling with excitement. "Guess what? I'm finally becoming a warrior!"

"Wow!" Maplepaw meowed, rubbing her cheek against his and purring. "It's about time Breezestar made you into a warrior!" _And about time that Salmontail's kits became apprentices, too._ Redkit and Blazekit were under every cat's paws now that they'd grown.

Shredpaw lifted his head and looked at Highrock. When he spoke, his voice was tinged with nervousness. "I wonder what my warrior name will be." He looked back at Maplepaw, and she saw that his eyes were shadowed with fear. "What if I can't hunt or fight anymore because of my tail?"

Mistyfur had insisted that Shredpaw's tail had healed split apart, so that it had fallen off naturally, but when Shredpaw managed to get Maplepaw alone he'd confided that she had torn it off when it showed signs of infection. He had difficulty staying balanced when he did the hunting crouch, and a lot of fighting moves were beyond him. Still, he'd trained hard in the moon and a half after leaving the medicine den, and he deserved to be a warrior.

"Warriors of ThunderClan, gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Breezestar yowled, springing to the Highrock. His long black fur shone in the sun while his white paws and chest sharply contrasted, the only things making him more than a shadow.

Cats of ThunderClan began to flock around the Highrock, mewing excitedly to each other. Maplepaw flicked her tail across Shredpaw's pelt, making sure that it was free of moss and fur. "Don't worry," she purred, "you'll be a great warrior. The best one in all of ThunderClan. Except for me – I'm going to be the leader!"

Shredpaw blinked affectionately at her. "Yes, Maplestar," he purred, padding forward.

Maplepaw nodded, then turned and scanned the clearing. Salmontail was vigorously licking Redkit and Blazekit, ignoring their mews of frustration – a sure sign that they would become apprentices today. Near them was Willowpaw, so she hurried over to sit beside her sister.

"Hi, Maplepaw," Willowpaw mewed, panting. "How are you?"

"Good. Are you okay?" Maplepaw mewed, blinking at her small sister. _Her fur's all ragged. And she's still so skinny. It's newleaf! She should be filling out like all the other warriors!_ She leaned over and began to lick her sister's clumped pelt, working out the tangles and bristles. To her surprise, Willowpaw jerked a little bit with every lick – as if she couldn't even withstand the gentle pressure Maplepaw applied. _She doesn't sleep well, either._ Her sister often woke up Maplepaw in the night, shifting and kicking uncomfortably.

Willowpaw nodded, turning to look at the Highrock. "Yeah, I'm okay. Of course. So Shredpaw is becoming a warrior?"

"Yep," Maplepaw purred.

Her sister poked her. "_You're_ certainly proud of him. Bet you wish he would stay in the apprentices' den until you became a warrior."

"Shut up, I do not!" Maplepaw exclaimed, ears burning. "Don't be a mousebrain."

Willowpaw's whiskers twitched. "Sure. Whatever you say, Maplepaw."

Breezestar looked down at Shredpaw, whose half-tail was flicking from side to side nervously, and beckoned him forward with a wink. "Cats of ThunderClan, today we witness one of the most important ceremonies our Clan can perform: the making of a warrior. Shredpaw has been an apprentice long past the time he should have been made a warrior due to his injured tail, but he has overcome that obstacle and remained hopeful despite the setback. Today he becomes a warrior."

Shredpaw's legs were quivering, Maplepaw saw; he was really nervous. He looked around the crowd of ThunderClan cats, eyes lingering on her for a half-second. That instant made her breath catch in her throat – but then his gaze was gone, moving on until it rested on Breezestar once more.

"I, Breezestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Shredpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Maplepaw could see Shredpaw swallow hard, and his tail stump quivered anxiously. But when he answered Breezestar, his voice was steady and strong. "I do."

Breezestar nodded, blinking at the dark tabby tom. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I grant you your warrior name. Shredpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Shredtail. StarClan honors your bravery and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

She felt her spirits rising as Shredpaw – no, Shred_tail_ – turned to face the Clan, pride and delight sparkling in his green eyes, and before she knew it, Maplepaw was the first to call out his name.

"Shredtail! Shredtail! Shredtail!"

Gradually, the other ThunderClan warriors joined in until every cat in the Clan was yowling his name. Once the cheers had died down, cats began to stand and swarm towards Shredtail only to be stopped by Breezestar's command.

"Hang on," the black tom mewed firmly. "Sit back down, everyone. We have one more ceremony to perform." He angled his ears towards Redkit and Blazekit, who bounced to their paws eagerly. "Come forward, you two." The two kits dashed forward, filled with clear enthusiasm.

_New denmates!_ Maplepaw purred, blinking at Willowpaw. Her sister's eyes were glowing as proudly as if the two kits were her own. "Now that Shredtail's moved out, did you think you'd be stuck with me and Flowerpaw and Daisypaw?" Maplepaw meowed, twitching her whiskers. Willowpaw rolled her eyes.

"Redkit, Blazekit," Breezestar began, "you have both reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to become apprentices. From this day on, until you receive your warrior names, you will be known as Redpaw and Blazepaw. Redpaw, your mentor will be Emberfoot." Maplepaw's eyes widened. _Father?_ Emberfoot, her father, was the deputy – he didn't train many apprentices. _Lucky Redpaw!_

Emberfoot's eyes widened as he stepped forward to stand beside Redpaw, whose eyes gleamed in awe. Breezestar purred. "Emberfoot, you have been my deputy and a loyal warrior for many moons, and I think it is time that you take on an apprentice. You will mentor Redpaw, and I trust that you will pass on your wisdom and patience to him." Then he turned to Blazepaw. "Your mentor will be Thistlefur," Breezestar meowed solemnly.

The silver she-cat stepped forward and tapped Blazepaw's nose with her own. The little ginger she-cat was frozen, petrified in front of the Clan. "Thistlefur, you have not yet had an apprentice – an oversight that I apologize for sincerely." Breezestar's eyes twinkled. "I would compliment you that you received excellent training from your mentor, but that would seem selfish. You have, however, shown yourself to be empathetic and fiercely protective of those you love, and I hope that you will pass on these traits to Blazepaw."

"Redpaw! Blazepaw! Redpaw! Blazepaw!"

The Clan yowled the names of the new apprentices, weaving around them and Shredtail. Then Blazepaw squeezed past a group of the cats and looked up at Maplepaw.

"Hi, Maplepaw!" she exclaimed, bouncing on her paws. "Can I have the nest next to yours?"

Maplepaw blinked. "Shouldn't you be with your mentor?"

Blazepaw shuffled from side to side, tail-tip twitching eagerly. "Yeah, but I want to have a nest. Can I have the one next to yours? You're awesome! I saw you practicing your battle moves one time, and I want you to teach me!"

Maplepaw exchanged a glance with Willowpaw that said _What's all this about?_ Her sister merely shrugged. "Um… Thistlefur will decide whether we train together, but I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to show you a battle move sometime. I mean, I've only been an apprentice for two moons. You're not going to be that far behind." When Blazepaw's whiskers drooped, Maplepaw smoothed the ginger apprentice's fur with her tail and purred, "Go back to Thistlefur. You'll be able to tour the territory."

"Okay," Blazepaw mumbled. She trudged away back towards Thistlefur, who flicked her ears kindly.

"Maplepaw!"

She looked up, startled, to see Shredtail. The dark tabby blinked at her. "Maplepaw, I just asked Breezestar if I could go hunting before I get ready for vigil – to stretch my legs, you know. Do…" he hesitated, dropping his eyes and looking unusually shy "… do you want to come with me?"

Maplepaw glanced over her shoulder at Willowpaw. Her sister's amber eyes shone with warmth, and she dipped her head slightly, letting Maplepaw know she was free to go off with Shredtail.

"Sure," she agreed.

Shredtail's eyes lit up and he purred. "Great! Let's go to Sunningrocks."


	6. Chapter 5

Hey, guys. Rainy here! I'm glad to see so many reviews - it's always good to hear from you (I work better with feedback - proven fact). I would like to state this definitively in response to Nyan Kitty/Lulu Noctuam: No, Willowpaw did not give birth to Redpaw and Blazepaw. She is an eight-moon-old apprentice, and having kits at that age would kill her, especially given how thin and weak she is. Not to mention Redpaw and Blazepaw are six moons old, so Willowpaw would have had to become pregnant almost right after birth, somehow carried kits for the next to moons, and then give birth while making it look exactly like Salmontail was giving birth. Willowpaw is just a very friendly cat, and she was friends with Redkit and Blazekit long enough to be proud as they became apprentices.

* * *

The squirrel didn't even see her; it was too busy biting at the cob nut its paws grasped. Maplepaw crouched, amber eyes mere slits, and forced her tail to stay still. She tasted the air briefly, making sure that she was downwind of the squirrel, then pounced.

An instant before she landed on it, the squirrel realized the danger and dropped the nut – but in that heartbeat, she planted one white paw on its back and gave it a sharp bite that killed it.

"Good catch!"

Maplepaw jumped, spinning around. _I thought Shredtail was hunting on the edge of the forest. Maybe he already caught something?_

But no, she couldn't see Shredtail anywhere. Instead, a tom was sitting on the other side of the river, blinking at her. He was white with dark silver tabby patches, and his fur was thick and glossy. His blue eyes were calm and friendly.

"Who are you?" Maplepaw felt her hackles rise suspiciously.

The tom dipped his head politely. "My name is Pebblestep. I'm from RiverClan." He flicked an ear nonchalantly, and Maplepaw's tail-tip twitched anxiously. _What if he's here to invade?_

"And who are you?" Pebblestep prompted gently.

Maplepaw lapped at her fluffy white chest fur, suddenly embarrassed. "Um… I'm Maplepaw. I'm a ThunderClan cat." When she looked up, he was at the very edge of the river – close enough that the water lapped at his paws. "Hang on! What are you doing?"

Pebblestep cocked his head to one side. "What? I'm on my territory – why do you need to know what I'm doing? It's okay," he continued as Maplepaw's ear-tips began to burn, "I know you're taught to be suspicious. We are too. I'm just going to get a fish. I wanted to go hunting by myself, and it'd look bad if I came back without anything." Suddenly he locked eyes with her. "Unless you'd like to give away that squirrel."

_Is he threatening me?_ Maplepaw ruffled her fur. "No way! This is ThunderClan prey!"

The RiverClan tom shrugged. "Of course. It'd only stink up the camp with ThunderClan."

"What do you mean, _stink up the camp_?" Maplepaw snapped, indignant. "It's RiverClan who smells so awful. You all stink of fish."

"Right." Pebblestep's whiskers twitched. He stared into the water for a long moment, silent and still as a snake – then struck as fast as lightning. His paw slapped the water and sank below, and when it came back up a fish flipped through the air… right in front of Maplepaw's feet.

"Toss that over, would you?" he mewed. "Hit it too hard."

"I don't think so."

Maplepaw jumped as fur brushed her flank. Shredtail stood beside her, ears flat against his skull and muzzle wrinkled ferociously. _He looks so dangerous._ Even when Shredtail was angry, she'd never seen him so fierce-looking.

Pebblestep blinked, looking surprised. "Why's that? It's RiverClan prey."

"On _ThunderClan_ territory," Shredtail growled. He planted one paw firmly on the fish, pinning it to the muddy riverbank. "That means it's ours."

Maplepaw watched, eyes wide, as Pebblestep stood up. She could feel Shredtail tense beside her. _He hasn't really fought since Maggottail attacked him._

"So ThunderClan own the fish in the river now, do they?" Pebblestep meowed. Though he sounded calm, Maplepaw could detect the thinly-veiled threat beneath his words. "I thought you only liked to chew through feathers and fur."

Shredtail hissed angrily and Maplepaw saw his claws slide out. "I never said we owned the river. But this fish is on _our_ territory, and that means it's ours." He lowered his head and narrowed his eyes threateningly. "Unless you'd like to come and fetch it."

"Look at you, posturing like a senior warrior," Pebblestep chuckled. "You can't have been a warrior for more than a few days. And how are you supposed to battle with half a tail?" He twitched his ears at Shredtail's stump. "Your apprentice friend there knows how to treat a cat – even if she _does_ think ThunderClan doesn't stink."

Maplepaw stood up now. "Shredtail, stop. Don't start a battle over a fish. Who's even going to eat it?" She shifted to stand closer to him and muttered, "Breezestar would be really angry at you for picking a fight with RiverClan before you've even sat vigil."

She saw Shredtail's shoulders lower a little bit, and he relaxed just slightly. "Fine. I'll forget that this happened. But," he added with a glare at Pebblestep, "if this happens again, Breezestar will hear about it."

"How good-hearted of you," Pebblestep mewed coolly.

Shredtail's stubby tail twitched, as close as it could come to a lash. With one quick, disdainful move, he kicked the fish back into the river, where it rapidly begin swimming away. "Come on, Maplepaw. We're going back to camp."

"Okay," she agreed, following as he began to trot away. She glanced over her shoulder briefly at Pebblestep. To her surprise, the RiverClan warrior blinked at her before getting to his paws and padding away. She turned away and hurried after Shredtail, ears burning.

"You made me look bad in front of that piece of fox dung," Shredtail hissed once they were in the forest.

"Look, he was a stupid furball, but it wasn't very nice of you to tell him he couldn't have the fish he caught." Maplepaw's tail twitched crossly. _Why is he accusing me when he almost got in a fight?_ "You could have gotten hurt."

Her friend looked at her, and Maplepaw realized with surprise that she was almost as big as he was – even though he was six moons older and a tom. Shredtail's green eyes weren't as cold as his voice had been, instead sparked with warmth. "You're right. Thanks, Maplepaw. I wouldn't want to get in trouble on my first day as a warrior." He rasped his tongue over her ear, blinking at her as he did so.

Then a thought occurred to Maplepaw. "Hey, I wonder if we'll get to go to the Gathering in a few days?"

Shredtail's eyes lit up. "You're right! I forgot that the Gathering was coming up! If you get to go, it'll be your first one, right?"

She nodded. "I hope Breezestar lets me go!"

Shredtail nudged her with his shoulder, eyes gleaming. "He's got to let you go. You've been an apprentice for two whole moons – you totally deserve to go to the Gathering. And he's got to let me go, too, since I'm a new warrior! I wonder what it'll be like to have warriors talk to you like you're an equal?"

_He's acting completely different from how he was at the river,_ Maplepaw thought as Shredtail chattered about seeing friends from other Clans. _I've never seen him like that._ Shock made her fur prickle as she realized that Shredtail had been trying to protect her. _Of course! He thought I was going to get hurt._

"Thanks for hunting with me," Shredtail mewed suddenly. "It wouldn't have been any fun without you – and I might have ended up fighting that mousebrain."

"No problem," Maplepaw mewed in surprise. "I like hunting with you. And I'm glad you didn't fight him, or we'd have a lot to explain to Breezestar when you came home wounded!"

Shredtail purred loudly. "Yeah. Hey, you think we'll run into Blazepaw and Redpaw out on a tour of the territory?"

"Maybe," she replied.

Her friend's eyes glinted mischievously. "Want to find them?"

"Yeah!" Maplepaw agreed, letting out a little _mrrow_ of amusement.

"Good!" Shredtail cried. "First one to find them gets your squirrel!" All of a sudden, he sprinted away through the bushes.

"Hey, wait up!" Maplepaw yelped. "Come on, that's not fair!" She started to run after his bobbing form, purring. _I'm glad we're friends._


	7. Chapter 6

Hey guys, Rainy here! I haven't been able to update the story for a few days because of school and also my flashdrive was not with me for a while. In the hopes of forgiveness, I made an extra-long chapter today, the longest yet. Some plot occurs in this one. Plus a Gathering, yay! Please keep reviewing when you can, since it always helps.

Also, I'm going to briefly say a few things in relation to the reviews:

I can't really tell you guys who's going to the Dark Forest and who's not. Aside from Mapleshade, it could be quite literally anyone (come on guys, I already accidentally used the name of an existing cat for one who I made up) - whether they're mentioned in the real series or not.  
As for the name of the RiverClan warrior who Mapleshade falls in love with: the name of that cat is not ever mentioned, so again it could be any cat. Yeah, Pebblestep is the best choice now... but read on. I'm not going to pull a "Crookedstar's Promise" on you and have it be Pebblestep's brother, especially considering he doesn't have one.  
I'm not actually going to tell you guys what's wrong with Willowpaw, since it's a term that cats would have no knowledge of (remember Shellheart's "mysterious lump" that was actually a tumor?), but she's not just going to be sickly and frail the entire story. I promise!

* * *

"The cats who will come to the Gathering are Needlepine, Thistlefur, Duckfoot, Marshfoot, Ravenwing, Copperfur, Shredtail, Flowerpaw, and Maplepaw."

Breezestar's yowl was loud, and Maplepaw felt a little chill of delight rush through her fur as she heard her name among the cats going to the Gathering. _Yes! I finally get to go to a Gathering!_

The black tom leaped gracefully down from the Highrock and looked to Emberfoot. "You will come too, of course, but if you could tell Mistyfur that Blizzardpaw needs to stay in camp, I'd appreciate it."

Emberfoot dipped his head. "I can get Maplepaw to do it, I'm sure. Maplepaw," he called as Breezestar padded away towards the camp's entrance.

She pricked her ears and bounced over to him. "Yes, Emberfoot?"

"Please tell Mistyfur that Blizzardpaw should stay in camp," her father meowed.

"Why does Blizzardpaw have to stay? Shouldn't the medicine cat apprentice go to the Gathering?" she mewed, puzzled.

"It's not your place to ask, but Fogfur is growing very old and needs a medicine cat to keep watch over him," Emberfoot replied sternly. "Now hurry, you don't want to keep us waiting."

Maplepaw dipped her head and hared away towards the medicine den, where she knew Mistyfur would be waiting. As she did, Willowpaw called out. "Hey, Maplepaw!"

"Oh! Yes?" Maplepaw halted, ears twitching madly with impatience. _If I don't hurry, Breezestar and Emberfoot will both be mad at me!_

"Sorry to slow you down. I just wanted to say, you have to watch _everything_ that happens at the Gathering for me!" Willowpaw exclaimed. "I've never been to one either, so you've got to tell me all about it when you get back."

Maplepaw nodded, relieved that it was all that her sister wanted. "Right, sure," she mewed cheerfully. "No problem. Oh, Mistyfur! Hey!" The silver medicine cat had left the den, furry tail streaming out behind her. "Breezestar wants Blizzardpaw –"

"– to stay in camp, I know," Mistyfur assured her. "He's already with Fogfur – I was coming out to join the patrol to the Gathering. Now hurry, if you don't want to make trouble."

"Okay," Maplepaw. "Bye, Willowpaw! I promise to tell you everything!" she called over her shoulder. Her sister stood back, waving her tail goodbye.

The group of ThunderClan cats raced through the forest, paws pounding on the ground. _We're going to scare all the mice away,_ Maplepaw thought with a twitch of her whiskers as she leaped over a log. When she looked up, Ravenwing was at her side.

"I know this is your first Gathering," her mentor meowed, "but I think you're old enough to handle it. I don't want you to sit by my side or your mother's all night; you need to talk to at least three other cats. I'll be asking about what you learned tomorrow when we go training, so pay attention to what you hear."

_A mission!_ Maplepaw nodded, wearing her most serious face, and Ravenwing flicked an ear to let her know he'd seen her agreement before springing ahead to run beside Marshfoot. _I'm going to do my best – I'll talk to _all_ the cats at the Gathering!_

Suddenly the forest ahead of her opened up, revealing a wide clearing completely full of cats. The sight took Maplepaw's breath away. _There are so many cats there._ She could even recognize some of them – the ugly, half-tailed cream tom Maggottail, a white apprentice from RiverClan that she'd seen on a border patrol – but there were dozens of other cats she'd never seen.

_We're last,_ she realized as ThunderClan raced down the slope to Fourtrees. She could smell ShadowClan's damp stink, RiverClan's fish stench, and WindClan's breezy, earthy scent.

Breezestar pushed past several cats, nodding to a few of them, before pouncing onto the Great Rock. He appeared to be greeting the other leaders.

"Welcome to the Gathering, cats of all Clans," called a russet-colored she-cat from the Great Rock. Her golden eyes glinted warmly as she stepped forward, long tail whisking slowly behind her. "Now that we're all here, I think it's about time that we began."

_Now? I haven't even talked to one cat!_ Maplepaw sat down, dismayed.

"Hey, it's you," a cat mewed from beside her. She jumped and turned to see a silver tabby and white tom. _Pebblestep!_ The fur on her shoulders prickled uneasily.

The RiverClan tom's whiskers twitched. "Don't fluff up like that. I'm not going to attack you or anything. We're at a Gathering. You just looked kind of lost, so I figured I'd explain things to you. First Gathering?"

Maplepaw nodded, studying her paws. _He probably thinks I'm just a kit._

"Well, that's all right. I had you figured for an older apprentice, since you stopped that fishbrain from your Clan. Anyway, the cat who's talking now is my leader, Rubystar. The black tom – not Breezestar, but the one with white ears – he's Crowstar, leader of ShadowClan." Pebblestep lowered his voice and muttered, "Some cats say Crowstar and Breezestar are brothers, because no one knows who their mothers are and they're the same age. But they hate each other. And that she-cat is Sparrowstar," he finished, flicking his tail at a scrawny, mottled brown tabby she-cat who looked as if she'd rather not have been there.

"Why do Crowstar and Breezestar hate each other?" Maplepaw meowed, head spinning from all the new information.

Pebblestep shrugged. "ThunderClan and ShadowClan have always been at odds. And maybe the thought of being related to each other disgusts them. Cats from different Clans don't associate often."

Maplepaw's tail-tip twitched. "You're talking to _me_," she pointed out.

"That's true, but it's different at a Gathering," Pebblestep replied. "Why did you look so nervous when you sat down?"

She frowned. "Ravenwing said I have to talk to at least three cats at the Gathering, but ThunderClan got here so late that I didn't get a chance."

Pebblestep touched her pelt lightly with his tail. "I'm sure you can explain it to him. But don't forget that you talked to me!"

Maplepaw's whiskers twitched. "Don't worry, I won't." She pricked her ears as Rubystar stepped back. "Oh – I missed what she said."

"Hunting is good, Fishwing became a warrior, we chased a badger off of our territory," Pebblestep mewed with a shrug. "I don't understand why leaders have to make such a big deal out of reporting everything. We could have more time talking to other cats if they didn't spend ages explaining that fish are in the river and mice are out of their holes."

"Isn't there some sort of tradition that we have to ramble about everything when we're at a Gathering?" Maplepaw joked. Pebblestep purred.

Crowstar padded forward, white ears pricked. Maplepaw felt a chill as he scanned the crowd with his green eyes, so like Breezestar's, before he let out a yowl.

"Thieves!"

Gasps rippled through the Clans. Maplepaw whipped around to see cats leaning over and whispering to each other. Pelts all around them bristled nervously and warriors exchanged shocked glances.

"Thieves," Crowstar repeated. But he wasn't just staring at all the Clans. His eyes were locked on the ThunderClan warriors. "ThunderClan is nothing but thieves… you don't deserve to have a place in the forest if you won't use it yourself!"

Beside her, Maplepaw was dimly aware that Pebblestep had drawn away from her. Blood roared in her ears. _Thieves? ThunderClan, thieves? What's he talking about?_

Breezestar narrowed his eyes and strode forward to face Crowstar, hackles raised and ears flattened. "And just what proof of this do you have?" he hissed. In shock, Maplepaw jerked her head upwards to stare at the sky. _Surely StarClan won't allow Crowstar to threaten us like this!_ But the moon was clear, with no clouds visible in the sky. _How can this be?_

"We have proof," Crowstar hissed. "Your warriors have been seen crossing the borders and stealing prey. We've caught them, watched them run across the Thunderpath and hunting. They roll in moss when they cross the border to hide the smell of ShadowClan."

Maplepaw watched in horror as Breezestar unsheathed his claws and crouched slightly as if he were about to attack Crowstar. "And how do we know you're not just making this up to have an excuse for attacking us?"

Crowstar ignored Breezestar's attack stance and strode to the edge of the rock, the lashing of his black tail the only indicator of how furious he was. Raising one paw, he jabbed it fiercely at Needlepine, Thistlefur, and Ravenwing. "Those three have all been seen. And Nightheart and Rushflame. They have been seen many times."

Maplepaw stretched up to look at Ravenwing, eyes huge. _He wouldn't! He couldn't! Why would Ravenwing steal?_ She looked beside her at Pebblestep, who had narrowed his eyes. "Your Clan steals?"

"How would I know?" she yelped, thudding back to all fours again and turning on him. "I thought we had plenty of prey – why would we need to steal it from another Clan?" But then she realized something… every hunting patrol she'd been on had been nearly fruitless. She hadn't caught any prey except a few scrawny voles and the squirrel at Sunningrocks. Yet Ravenwing often went hunting with Nightheart and they returned with plenty of prey. _But they're siblings. Of course they would go hunting together!_ Thistlefur and Needlepine went together often as well, and sometimes Rushflame would go with them. It made sense for the two… they were mates. But Rushflame had no relations.

_Great StarClan… maybe they really have been stealing! Is our territory so empty that they have to steal?_ Maplepaw craned her neck, trying desperately to catch Ravenwing's eye, but her mentor was looking down.

The black tom flattened his white ears against his head and whipped around to Breezestar. "Your warriors do not deny it, Breezestar."

She flinched when Breezestar went silent. He seemed to have aged many moons all at once, lifting himself from his aggressive stance and sinking into a sitting position, head down. _He won't even try to defend them anymore?_

Then Breezestar spoke. "I have no knowledge of this. Warriors of ThunderClan are not closely guarded every time they leave the camp to hunt. We could not have known."

"Really." Crowstar's voice was cold and mocking. "Is ThunderClan so pathetically weak that they don't know when half of their warriors are stealing prey from another Clan? Could you never see how empty your territory is? I've even heard tales of fish being taken from RiverClan."

Maplepaw stiffened in shock. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she could spy Shredtail. The dark fur along her friend's spine had lifted and his baleful glare was burning into Pebblestep's back. The RiverClan warrior refused to meet her gaze.

"You _fox-heart!_" Maplepaw spat at Pebblestep. "How could you?"

He didn't look at her, so Maplepaw shifted a tail-length away from him and stared up at the Great Rock again.

Breezestar raised his head and looked hard at Crowstar. The two toms were nearly identical, both in fur color and body shape, and Maplepaw was suddenly certain that they were brothers. "Crowstar." The ShadowClan leader tensed as though expecting Breezestar to tackle him. "I am sorry."

The Clans began to whisper again as Breezestar continued. "My Clan has eaten well within the last moon, and perhaps better than could be expected even during leaf-bare. As you know, I am not a young cat, and leading my Clan tires me. I harbor no desire for hostility between our Clans, but it seems that my warriors intend to make it unavoidable." He stared out into the crowd of cats, green gaze sorrowful. "They will be severely punished and to make up for their theft, ThunderClan will share a third of its prey with ShadowClan for all of newleaf. However," he added with a significant glance at Rubystar, "I doubt that my cats would steal prey from the river. I will not force my _loyal_ warriors to wet their paws for something unproven."

Rubystar didn't seem fazed, merely annoyed. "Actually, I had no intent of asking for such a thing. I have heard no tales of theft from my cats, and I intend to find out the meaning of all this as well." She looked up at the sky and most of the cats at the Gathering followed her gaze. Thick clouds were obscuring part of the stars now, and the edges were drifting to cover the moon. "StarClan has spoken. This Gathering must end now." She dipped her head to Sparrowstar, who seemed half-asleep, and leaped down from the Great Rock. RiverClan warriors began to pad towards her.

"Maplepaw –" Pebblestep began, but she turned on him with a hiss.

"You snake-hearted piece of fox dung. Shredtail was right about you. Don't talk to me." She stood up and stalked over to Shredtail, who tapped his nose lightly to hers. _I can't believe I thought we could be friends._

"WindClan, to me," Sparrowstar called as she pounced down from the massive boulder. "We have no words to share after such an exchange." WindClan began to file out of Fourtrees towards the moor.

"ThunderClan, gather on that side of the clearing; ShadowClan, on the other. Breezestar and I need to discuss this decision for a moment," Crowstar ordered. To Maplepaw's surprise, none of the ThunderClan cats – not even the ones who had stolen prey – objected to Crowstar's command.

She saw that Ravenwing, Thistlefur, and Needlepine were sitting off to the side. "I have to talk to Ravenwing," she mewed to Shredtail.

He nodded, eyes shadowed. "I'll wait for you here."

Maplepaw climbed to her paws and padded quietly over to Ravenwing. "Is it true?" she mewed quietly.

He studied his paws. "I did it for the Clan. I… I didn't want any of this to happen. ShadowClan has so much territory that they always have prey, even in leaf-bare. At first, when Needlepine and Thistlefur asked me to go with them, I wanted to tell Breezestar… but then Duckfoot had you two, and with Willowpaw so weak I knew that I had to go. It made me see just how hard the Clan had it in leafbare."

Part of Maplepaw wanted to forgive him. Part of her wanted to say, "Well, you'll be punished for it and then we can go back to training. It's okay." But the other part of her won out. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "I'm asking Breezestar for a different mentor."


	8. Chapter 7

"Your new mentor will be me."

Breezestar's meow rang out over the clearing as he looked down at Maplepaw. Her heart pounded hard. _The leader as my mentor… what an honor._ Her thought was sarcastic, and she wished she could have spoken aloud in front of the Clan. She stretched up to touch noses with him and realized that she wasn't all that much smaller than him. Behind her, Willowpaw was sitting with Antclaw. Her sister was still thin, and already the other ThunderClan warriors were growing skinny. It had been five days since the Gathering, and the few remaining warriors were constantly busy hunting to feed the Clan and ShadowClan.

Needlepine, Thistlefur, Ravenwing, Nightheart, and Rushflame had been taken off of warrior duties and confined to camp. _Stupid decision if you ask me._ The five cats were valuable hunters, even if they _had_ been stealing, and now they were just burdens – loafing around in camp and eating what little prey ThunderClan had.

But Breezestar had had to punish them, and he had done so. It was clear that the cats were all uncomfortable at eating prey they hadn't earned, and Thistlefur appeared furious that Blazepaw was being trained by Birchpelt instead of her. Ravenwing was the quietest – Maplepaw knew she'd been his first apprentice and he had been determined to do right by her. Besides, he'd only ever meant to help his Clan avoid starvation. And now, it seemed, they were headed for it.

No one had known just how empty of prey the territory was because the five warriors were keeping the fresh-kill pile stocked. Without that source of food, prey was as scarce as it would be in leafbare while the forest recovered from the cold weather. And a third of it went to ShadowClan.

The only benefit was that the borders were left relatively empty. ShadowClan never made threats across the Thunderpath, or seemed to be watching when ThunderClan patrolled the border. Maplepaw had yet to be on one of the patrols that delivered prey to them, but she doubted they'd be met with hostile glares when she was. In fact, the Clan that had always been their enemy was cordial at the borders.

"That is all," Breezestar meowed calmly. "Again, I ask that the Clan does their best to find prey for us – every cat must go hunting as often as possible in order to keep us strong."

The Clan began to dissipate. Maplepaw watched as her father flicked his tail, ordering cats into hunting patrols. The patrols were small – only two or three cats each could go out because of the shortage of warriors. And there could only be two border patrols in a day – one of four cats in the morning, and one with the cats who still had energy in the evening. Three warriors at a time had to go to bring food for ShadowClan. Even Mistyfur and Blizzardpaw were out hunting when they could, as prey was even more important than herbs.

Flowerpaw and Daisypaw were being carefully assessed; despite being a little young to become warriors, the Clan needed them. Or at least, that's what everyone said. _They're totally useless, if you ask me,_ Maplepaw thought as she watched the two sisters wrestle. The she-cats had never faced battle – while Maplepaw had only seen the one at the ShadowClan border, even that was more than them – and their hunting skills were mediocre at best. They were too ditzy and playful, like kits instead of warriors.

Willowpaw, on the other hand, had proved herself useful in patrolling the borders. She wasn't able to sprint quickly or crouch well because she was so skinny, but she could plod steadily along a border long enough for the patrol to get around the whole territory without needing to stop for her. Privately, Maplepaw knew her sister was embarrassed about her appetite – Willowpaw had always eaten more than other cats while continuing to stay skinny.

"Maplepaw, I'd like us to do battle training."

Breezestar's mew made her jump. "Battle training? Shouldn't we go hunting?"

The black tom dipped his head. "Hunting is important, but you haven't gotten your fair share of fighting practice just yet. Hunting is not the only thing a warrior is good for." He flicked her ear with his tail-tip and blinked at her. "You've still got apprentice duties too, as you know."

"Collecting moss for the elders, yeah," Maplepaw grumbled. "That's so boring."

"Which is why you should be thankful that I'm teaching you fighting moves instead of making you change the elders' bedding," Breezestar meowed. Then he turned his head and looked across the camp to Ravenwing. "Blazepaw didn't ask to have her mentor changed, even though Birchpelt will probably end up becoming her permanent mentor. Why did you ask to do so formally?"

_What business is it of yours?_ Maplepaw thought. _You're not even caring for the Clan right._ Her tail flipped crossly of its own accord, and she winced inwardly. _He saw that._

Her new mentor didn't have to say anything – she could see the disapproval in his eyes. "Come on, let's head to the sandy hollow," he mewed quietly.

They padded out of the camp and into the forest. Breezestar was silent as he shouldered past budding bushes. When they reached the sandy hollow, he turned to face her and sat down.

"Show me what you know right now," he meowed softly. His tone was all Maplepaw needed to hear – he knew what she thought of him.

She flicked one ear crossly. "Am I supposed to pounce around and swipe at nothing? I'd rather not look like a fool."

Were his whiskers twitching, or was he flicking away a gnat? "Very well, I'll be your opponent. I'm not going to fight fair though, so be warned. The other Clans aren't going to move into position for you in battle, either." He got to his paws and faced her.

_Oh._ Suddenly he didn't seem like the elderly tom that was only just taller than Maplepaw – his black pelt was bristling and his tail was lashing; his ears lay flat against his skull and his eyes were mere slits. He radiated hostility.

She hung back, waiting for him to make the first move. _If I attack first, he'd be able to predict my moves. I have to wait for him to attack me, and then I'll have the advantage._ She took the time to analyze her new mentor.

_He's not much bigger than me,_ she reflected, _so it won't be so easy for him to overturn me. I'm pretty steady, while he's light on his paws. He's going to be a lot faster than me, and probably he'll have better balance._ As she was trying to judge whether she could knock Breezestar down and pin him there, he charged.

_Mouse-dung! I lost focus!_ She flicked her eyes over him as quickly as she could. It looked like he was trying to overturn her, so she planted her paws firmly and prepared to spring on him when he found that she couldn't be knocked over so easily.

His shoulder struck hers with the force of a monster on the Thunderpath, and Maplepaw hardly had time to register it – _He hit me! He really did!_ – before she was knocked onto her back and had to scrabble gracelessly to regain her paws. Once she was on her feet again, she felt the cuff of swift paws as Breezestar boxed her ears.

Spitting in shock, she jumped away from him and skidding, lashing her tail. He stood for just an instant before lunging right. Seeing him shift his weight but recalling his words about fighting unfairly, Maplepaw prepared for him to feint left – only for the tom to slam into her right shoulder and overturn her once more.

Breezestar placed one paw on her chest, pinning her on her back in the gritty soil, and leaned down. "Do you surrender?" he meowed calmly.

She retaliated by surging up all at once, throwing him off and pouncing on his back. She planted one paw on his tail as he tried to stand and unbalanced him. When he flopped to the ground, wriggling angrily, she gripped his scruff in her jaws and muttered through it, "No. Do _you_?"

He briefly went limp in a surrendering move, and Maplepaw was struck with delight. _I beat him! I really did!_ Then she was flying through the air, shoved away by Breezestar. He spun, stalked over to her, and lightly put his jaws to her neck. Then he stepped away and let her climb to her paws, ear-tips hot with embarrassment.

"A single hit." His voice was heavy with disappointment. "Do you realize, Maplepaw, that in a real battle the enemy warrior would have done serious damage to you? Your ears would be shredded, and your belly was exposed when I knocked you over. Speaking of which – were you trying to brace yourself against me? Did you really think that I couldn't knock you over?"

She stared mutinously at the ground. "No other cat can." She'd always been proud that her paws were steady and she couldn't be knocked over by anything. _There goes that claim to fame._

"Maplepaw."

Breezestar's voice was gentle, prompting Maplepaw to look up at him. His green eyes were friendly – like Ravenwing's eyes had always been. The ThunderClan leader padded up to her and gently flicked his tail along her pelt. "You're a very strong cat," he mewed kindly. "That strength will lead you to great things. However, you must not put all of your faith into it. That will be important forever – you mustn't put all your trust into _anything_."

Maplepaw blinked at him. "Okay, Breezestar," she mewed. _Maybe it won't be so bad having him as my mentor._ "Can we try that again? I want to try that fake feint you used."

He nodded, touching his nose to her ear-tip. "Of course. Go to the other side of the clearing and get ready… I'm going to change up what I do again."

She nodded and crossed the clearing, watching him much more closely this time. He sprang, and she leaped to meet him.


	9. Chapter 8

Hello, all! Rainy here with the next chapter of Mapleshade's Destiny. Thanks for all the reviews - I know I didn't really say anything in the past chapter, and I wanted to reply to a few things again.

To jayfeather12345: Nothing is wrong with Sparrowstar. She's an impatient cat and feels that Gatherings are a waste of time, that it would be better if the Clans never met in peace unless there was real need to. Fun Irrelevant-To-Story fact: she is actually Cedarpelt's granddaughter. Yep, Cedarpelt was a WindClan cat.

To Warriorsgirl: I'm not sure what you mean when you ask if the Clan allegiances are real. Sorry that I can't answer your question.

In the last chapter, there's one thing I'd like to say: I really hate it when a young cat easily defeats their mentor in warriors fanfiction. Breezestar, for instance, has been the leader of ThunderClan for years. He's an old cat, but he's also strong and experienced. Maplepaw, on the other hand, is a strong and sturdy apprentice whose previous mentor was built for speed. There is no way she could expect Breezestar's strength after Ravenwing's light frame. This is irrelevant to the story, I just needed a brief rant about what I've seen in a lot of stories.

Anyway, read on.

* * *

Maplepaw trudged to the apprentices' den, paws aching and flanks stinging. She'd trained for battle all day with Breezestar again. It had been nearly a moon since the ThunderClan warriors were found stealing prey, and Breezestar had refused to give Maplepaw a single day of rest. She'd been an apprentice for three and a half moons, his apprentice for a single moon, and yet he worked as if she were a few days from becoming a warrior.

He was a merciless mentor – strict, tricky, and observant of every minor mistake she made. Just today, she'd snagged a claw under a root and he'd lectured her on being observant of her surroundings. Still, Maplepaw knew she was learning a lot from him.

It was easier now that the prey had returned. ShadowClan had allowed ThunderClan to break its agreement with them a moon early because "they didn't need ThunderClan stench hanging around the camp," as Crowstar put it. Maplepaw suspected that ShadowClan just didn't want to look as though they needed ThunderClan's help.

Even scrawny Willowpaw had filled out a little bit, but the warmer weather was making it difficult for her to do too much. She panted nearly all the time on sunny days, and her sleeping issues had become more pronounced. Maplepaw had also noticed that her appetite had only grown as well, and Willowpaw was often admonished by Antclaw for taking two or even three pieces of prey from the fresh-kill pile.

Maplepaw felt sorry for Willowpaw. No matter how much her sister ate, she never gained any weight – but she was always so hungry, and no cat let her eat enough to fill her up. Her own appetite had grown as well, but that was because she was out in the forest from the dawn to dusk hunting or training for battle.

Shredtail was surprisingly scrawny for a tom his age. He wasn't small by any measure, but Maplepaw was the same size as he was and he didn't seem to be growing any more. He'd been in a border skirmish with RiverClan, and he displayed the crisscrossed scars on his pelt with pride. Breezestar often asked Shredtail to practice fighting with Maplepaw, and by now they knew each other's moves as if they were the same cat. Maplepaw would have given anything to battle by Shredtail's side, moving in unison to chase away all the enemies in their path.

Flowerpetal and Daisythorn were both warriors, made in the past few moons. They were still pretty cruel to Shredtail, just as they had been as kits, and he sought Maplepaw's company when that happened. On the same day that the two sisters became warriors, Robinfeather – one of the older cats in the Clan – had moved to the nursery, expecting kits.

_I'm too tired to think about all that,_ Maplepaw thought with a sigh as she plopped down in her nest next to Willowpaw.

"Hey, Maplepaw," her sister mewed sleepily. "Back from training?"

"Yep," Maplepaw agreed with a yawn. "Breezestar nicked my ear, see?" She proudly displayed the notch Breezestar had accidentally clawed in her ear during their training session that day.

Willowpaw _tsk_ed and stretched out to lick at the drying blood. "He's so hard on you. Every day you come in here exhausted, whether you were fighting or hunting. And you've never even had a battle."

She blinked, twitching Willowpaw away with her cut ear. "Not _yet_, but I bet I'll get to be in one soon. Breezestar says he thinks RiverClan is going to try and take Sunningrocks again, and he said that if they do, he's going to put me on the battle patrol."

Willowpaw drew back a little bit. "And you're happy about that? How come? What if you get hurt?"

"Of course I'm happy about it! I want to fight a cat other than Breezestar – no one could be as hard to battle as he is," Maplepaw purred. "And I _know_ I'm going to get hurt – maybe even a bigger nick in my ear." She licked one paw and drew it lightly over her ear, closing her eyes contentedly. "I don't think any warrior comes home from a battle without any wounds."

"You're not just any warrior, you're my sister!" Willowpaw pointed out, burying her muzzle in Maplepaw's thick fur. She looked at her scrawny silver sister, suddenly feeling guilty. _I'm excited to battle, while Willowpaw is so weak she probably won't ever get to fight. And I'm not too sisterly, either. We've never even hunted together._

Maplepaw licked a stray tuft of fur atop her sister's head, purring. "Hey Willowpaw, tomorrow I want to ask Breezestar for a day off. We could hunt together. Think that'd be fun?"

"Mm-hmm," her sister mumbled sleepily. "'M gonna go to sleep now." Even as Maplepaw watched, Willowpaw's flank moved slower as she fell asleep.

_I hope you get a full night of sleep._ Maplepaw settled her head comfortably on one of her paws and sighed. Soon she could feel the tug of sleep dragging her down.

* * *

"Hey, kit, you've grown!"

Maplepaw shot up from the patch of grass she was lying on, tail fluffed up in shock. "Wha! What? Where am I?" She spun around to see none other than Cedarpelt behind her. The tabby StarClan warrior's whiskers were twitching as she watched her frantic movements. "Why am I in StarClan again?"

Cedarpelt curled her tail over her paws and yawned. "Well. I'm not sure, quite frankly, why StarClan wants me to meet you more than once. More cryptic messages, I guess. But what can I do about it – I volunteered to do this."

"You… volunteered?" Maplepaw narrowed her eyes skeptically. "What does that even mean?"

The tabby she-cat stood up and circled Maplepaw, shrugging her slender brown shoulders. "Well, whenever we have a prophecy about a specific cat – which, in this case, we do – some cats of StarClan come together and talk cryptically about it. Again, it makes no sense to me, but somehow I was chosen for this specific prophecy. There were a bunch of cats nervous to volunteer, so I said 'why not?' and offered my help." She winked at Maplepaw. "Of course, I was as polite as anything when I did."

"Why do they just choose one? What are you supposed to do?"

"Well, you remember the prophecy, right, kit?" Cedarpelt mewed, flicking her ears.

"Sort of," Maplepaw agreed uncertainly. "Something like 'the shade of a maple will cover the Clans in darkness.'"

Cedarpelt nodded. "That's about it. See… a lot of StarClan warriors think we have to be mystic and powerful, just because we're spirits, but it's really not true. We're just another bunch of cats, except we're not alive like you. They choose one cat who's supposed to talk to you… if anyone else had done it, they would have probably said the prophecy in a really serious tone and told you to keep your paws on the right path while fading away dramatically. The full StarClan experience." She snorted. "Instead you get me. You remember the prophecy, and I can't really tell you anything about it." But Maplepaw saw it – a shadow crossed the warrior's face.

"Then say something cryptic," she growled. "I want to know what this prophecy I'm not supposed to follow means, and if you can't tell me flat out, why are you trying to? Something mystifying is better than what you're doing. All you've said is 'other cats would tell you something strange, but since I don't like that I can't tell you anything.' How is that supposed to help me?" Anger made her bristle, and she glared at Cedarpelt. "What are you hiding?"

To her dismay, the she-cat appeared unfazed. "Is that how it is, then… very well," she agreed, halting abruptly in front of Maplepaw. "Then I will tell you all I can, however I can." For a moment she was quiet, then added, "And you'd better not ask me what any of it means!"

Maplepaw kept quiet, not answering. _Maybe I can figure out something… this prophecy hasn't really affected me any, at least not as far as I know. Wonder if it ever will._

"You have to keep your feelings in check," Cedarpelt mewed quietly. "If you let every cat know your thoughts, disaster will come to you." She looked hard at Maplepaw. "You are still young, and you may not have a steady grasp over what you feel. But it is absolutely necessary that you do not let your feelings guide your paws."

"What should guide my paws? Breezestar?" Maplepaw's tail-tip twitched irritably. "Or maybe StarClan?"

"What did I _just_ tell you?" Cedarpelt sighed. "First, no questions. You _asked_ me to be cryptic, and this is my best shot."

Annoyed, Maplepaw shot back, "Well, you're terrible at it."

Cedarpelt snorted. "Look at you, bickering like a squirrel. Second, I just told you not to let others know what you're thinking. It's pretty obvious what you think of StarClan. Don't show me how you feel."

Maplepaw glared at her. "You're –"

Cedarpelt placed her fluffy brown tail over Maplepaw's mouth, silencing her. "Shut up and let me finish. If you let your feelings determine your path, you _will_ lead the Clans to disaster. For the sake of every Clan – even StarClan – you must not give in to the way you feel."

She ached to ask Cedarpelt what it meant, but she'd already been scolded for it. _What is she talking about? How could my decisions affect StarClan?_ To her surprise, Cedarpelt had begun to fade.

"Mouse-dung," the warrior growled. "Well, you're waking up. Do your best, Maplepaw. For everyone."


	10. Chapter 9

Hey everyone, Rainy here. Not much to say, as the reviews didn't have many questions. I want to make this very clear though: Cedarpelt from StarClan is _not_ the Cedarpelt who mentored Crookedstar - this Cedarpelt is a female she-cat originally from WindClan who died many seasons ago, long enough for her granddaughter to become leader of WindClan. Not the same cat. I just went "Cedarpelt sounds like a good name" and then realized that there was a Cedarpelt in RiverClan as well. However, they are not the same cat. At all.

That is all. Read on, enjoy the chapter, hopefully I'll have chapter 10 out soon.

* * *

"RiverClan attacked us!"

Blazepaw's ginger flanks heaved as she faced the ThunderClan warriors in the camp. Her blue eyes were huge and terrified.

Breezestar leaped to his paws in a flash, staring down at her. "Where? Was it at Sunningrocks? How many cats were there?"

She backed up, shaking like a leaf. "There – I – there were –"

The black tom snorted crossly and turned to Emberfoot. "I'll go. You stay here, understood?"

"Yes, Breezestar," Emberfoot meowed shortly. He turned to look at the camp. "Who will be in the battle patrol?"

Breezestar hesitated, eyes flicking from cat to cat. Maplepaw's breathing quickened when they rested on her for a heartbeat longer than the others. _He's going to choose me! He's got to!_

"Finchfur, Ravenwing, Rushflame, Copperfur, Daisythorn, Shredtail, and Maplepaw," the leader said at last. "We head out now."

Excitement fizzed in Maplepaw, making her paws light. "Shredtail!" she exclaimed, rushing to stand beside her friend. "We get to battle together!"

He nodded, face grim.

She tipped her head to one side. "What's wrong?"

Shredtail looked at her, and Maplepaw was relieved to see that his eyes were eager. "I just don't want to lose Sunningrocks. That's where we get the most prey, and besides it's on _our_ side of the river. What if RiverClan try to take more territory?"

"That's stupid," she pointed out. "Most of those fish-breaths haven't even tasted mouse before. They'd be completely useless in the forest."

Shredtail shrugged. "I'm just thinking ahead. But you're right, I guess. Anyway, we've got to get those mouse-brains off of our territory."

"Let's go," Breezestar called, and the patrol streamed out of camp and into the forest.

Energy gave Maplepaw's feet wings, and she flew along with the rest of the patrol as swiftly as any warrior. _My first battle,_ she thought eagerly. _I can't wait! I wish Willowpaw were here!_ She hesitated at that thought. _No… no I don't, not really. She's not very strong._

Then she began to hear the yowls of cats up ahead. Steeling herself for whatever she would see, Maplepaw surged ahead with the group as they broke into the clearing at Sunningrocks.

The first thing she saw was blood.

Everywhere she looked, blood was spilling. Tufts of fur drifted in the air, landing in splatters of red. Claws and teeth were stained crimson.

Her fur automatically began to stand on end, and she bristled at the sight. Breezestar charged ahead, yowling, "ThunderClan, attack!" as he slammed into a massive ginger tom. Beside her, Shredtail let out a screech and pounced on the back of a blue-silver she-cat who was pummeling Salmontail around the ears.

Then sharp claws spiked Maplepaw's pelt, and she turned with a hiss to see a silver tabby form. For an instant, she couldn't breathe. _Pebblestep!_

But in another moment, she saw emerald eyes and recognized Smoothpelt, the RiverClan deputy. He bared his teeth, spitting with rage, and swiped at her.

Maplepaw ducked the blow and leaped forward to ram her head into his broad chest, forcing him backwards. He managed to slash at her pelt, but she countered by rearing up and crisscrossing her claws over his muzzle. Satisfaction swelled in her as he shook his muzzle vigorously to flick away beads of blood.

"Fox-heart," he growled, lunging forward again. She could see that he was trying to overturn her. _Can I get out of the way in time? Or can I take the hit? Breezestar would tell me not to count on my strength…_ But, without a conscious decision, Maplepaw braced herself for Smoothpelt's attack.

His face loomed nearer, smirking – he was sure he had the upper hand. _StarClan protect me!_ Maplepaw prayed, forcing herself not to flinch.

Smoothpelt slammed hard into her shoulder, making her stumble back a few steps, but Maplepaw saw with relief that the deputy had been hit even harder. He was staggering, looking dizzy. She lashed out, raking her claws over his muzzle, and he growled in pain. "You dare call me a fox-heart when _you're_ stealing territory?" Maplepaw hissed, ducking under his snapping jaws to sink her teeth into his shoulder.

Then, before she could react, a heavy weight dropped onto her back just as Smoothpelt clawed at her ear. Maplepaw let out a screech as her ear suddenly burned with pain.

The cat pinning her down was too heavy to throw off, and Maplepaw felt a jolt of panic. _Breezestar didn't teach me how to fight two cats alone! Someone help me!_

"You get off her!"

_Shredtail!_ Maplepaw wanted to yowl in relief upon hearing her friend's snarl of outrage. The weight on her back vanished, and she looked back to see none other than Pebblestep.

He gaped at her, backing up rapidly, with his face twisted in shock. Shredtail lunged at him and scored his claws down Pebblestep's side, spitting.

The RiverClan warrior seemed to shake off his daze and grappled with Shredtail until they were locked in a tight ball of fur, spitting and slashing at each other. Maplepaw flicked her ear as she heard the scrape of paws on dirt – Smoothpelt was attacking her again. In one fluid motion, she turned and hooked her claws into his fur to drag him down. He was overturned, belly exposed, and Maplepaw took the opportunity to claw at his belly. Tufts of silver and black fur drifted in the air, and at last Smoothpelt managed to drag himself away from her and dash, snarling, into another ThunderClan warrior.

She stood, panting, in triumph. _I got the RiverClan deputy to run away from me!_

"Who can't fight with half a tail, huh, mange-pelt?"

Shredtail's enraged yowl from behind her made Maplepaw spin. The dark tabby tom had pinned down Pebblestep and had one paw at his throat, snarling. Pebblestep's blue eyes were lit with cold terror.

"Shredtail, let him go," Maplepaw snapped.

Her friend turned to her, eyes disbelieving and angry. "He attacked you!"

"And you stopped him. He's not going to fight anymore, Shredtail, you defeated him. Now let him go."

For a heartbeat, she was sure that Shredtail would refuse and instead apply pressure on Pebblestep's throat, choking him. His eyes shone with malice and hatred. She locked eyes with him, willing him silently to let the RiverClan warrior go.

Finally, Shredtail retracted his claws and lifted his paw, growling deep in his throat. Pebblestep, finally free, shot to his paws and tore away past Sunningrocks to swim across the river and vanish into the reeds. Maplepaw stared at the place he'd disappeared, watching the stalks quiver.

"Are you okay?" Shredtail mewed, voice gentler now. He was at her side, sniffing at her carefully.

Her ear was stinging, but Maplepaw shook her head. "We need to drive out the rest of these snake-hearts before we can check injuries." She blinked at him. "Battle together?"

A purr rose in his throat – an absurd thing, given the situation, but to Maplepaw it seemed right. Side-by-side, the two cats leaped back into the fray, claws outstretched to shred any opponent who had the misfortune to get in their way.


	11. Chapter 10

To RandomWarriorsFan228: I'm not sure what makes Smoothpelt an unbelievable name, as it was not designed purely to say he had a sleek pelt. RiverClan warriors are usually very glossy with a thick pelt due to eating fish, so it's not far-fetched for them to name a kit Smoothkit. His name could have just as easily ended up as Smoothstone or Smoothbranch. If you could explain what's wrong with the name, that would be helpful. As for Maplepaw, well, I'll do my best to make her a little bit more, er, normal... but I'm not very experienced. This, as with all my fanfiction stories (to come), is purely practice for novels. Any constructive criticism is welcomed, and I'd appreciate it if you could keep it up!

* * *

Maplepaw lapped at her thick pelt wearily. Her most recent training session with Breezestar had not gone well for her – the black tom had been far more energetic than he usually was, and Maplepaw hadn't been able to compete with his speed. Her mentor had gotten even harder on her after the battle with RiverClan, even though Maplepaw privately thought that she had done well.

Breezestar halted next to her, looking down with an amused expression. "I suppose you're tired?"

She nodded. _Please, StarClan, don't let him make me run through the forest hunting all night._

"All right. Tomorrow, I'm going to take you to the border of Twolegplace. We may meet a kittypet or two, but remember that they're not usually hostile. Besides, with your fighting abilities I'm not sure you could take one down even if they _were_ attacking." His long tail waved lazily around his haunches.

_I'm not that bad!_ Maplepaw wanted to yowl at him. _Maybe if you didn't make me work nonstop from sunrise to moonhigh, I wouldn't be so sore._

But Breezestar had already padded away to the fresh-kill pile, mewing a greeting to Emberfoot. Maplepaw glared after him, tail lashing angrily. _I should have known he'd make a fun adventure into an insult._

Willowpaw padded up stiffly, blinking at Maplepaw. "Hi. Are you going to eat?"

"Hmm?" Maplepaw muttered, looking up at her sister. "What?"

"I said, 'are you going to eat'? You're just lying here. Aren't you hungry after Breezestar's training?"

"Oh. Right." In truth, Maplepaw didn't feel much like eating. She had worked all day and mostly just wanted to sleep. "I guess not."

Willowpaw frowned. "You're going to starve if you don't eat enough. You're skinny."

Maplepaw looked disbelievingly at her. "You're telling me _I'm_ skinny?" She snorted. "This coming from the cat made out of sticks and furballs?"

Her sister took a step back, matted pelt bristling. "What's that supposed to mean?" she protested, blue eyes wide.

_Great StarClan. She doesn't even know what I mean!_ Maplepaw curled her lip. "You know what I mean. No matter how much prey you stuff yourself with, you're always just fur and bones. What's wrong with you, anyway?"

"What are you talking about?" Willowpaw growled, flattening her ears. "Don't be so mean, Maplepaw. Are you in a bad mood?"

"Don't be dumb," Maplepaw grumbled. "It's true, isn't it? You're so skinny that you can't even do anything for the Clan. You can't hunt or fight. How are you ever going to be a warrior?"

Willowpaw's eyes widened in shock. "You – you –"

Maplepaw got to her paws and padded forward, thrusting her muzzle into Willowpaw's face and forcing her to back up more. "Look at you. You're scared of me, and I've had the same training as you. You haven't fought any battles, and you don't even want to. What use are you to ThunderClan?"

Her sister's eyes glimmered miserably. "W-what do you mean? I can hunt. And so what if I don't want to fight a battle. Not every warrior wants to get hurt or hurt other cats."

"But they're not _afraid_ to fight," Maplepaw pointed out. "You are. You don't hunt. You don't fight. All you do is eat prey. You're nothing but a burden to the Clan. You're _useless_."

Willowpaw lowered her head. "I am not," she protested.

"Yes, you are!" Maplepaw growled. "You eat the prey other cats need! What do you even do? Collect moss? Like you're just out of the nursery, you collect moss all day. Why didn't you just move to the elders' den?"

"You're just mad because Breezestar doesn't like you," Willowpaw shot back.

_That_ stung. Maplepaw jerked back, hissing. "No, I'm not! I'm mad because you're useless!" She snarled at her sister. "Useless! You're useless!"

"Maplepaw!"

The sharp growl came from behind her. Maplepaw turned, still bristling, and saw Breezestar looming over her. He leaned down and glared at her. "Follow me. _Now_."

Maplepaw lashed her tail furiously and followed him as he padded lightly to his den. She could sense Willowpaw behind her, and was pleased to scent misery coming from her sister.

Breezestar brushed the lichen covering the entrance to his den off to the side, waiting for Maplepaw to enter ahead of him. She did, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dim cove behind the lichen, then sat down. Her mentor entered the den behind her and crossed to sit in front of his nest, nearly invisible in the gloom.

For several moments, there was silence. Maplepaw didn't know what to say, and Breezestar seemed to be waiting for her to speak. Finally, she opened her jaws, but he spoke first.

"Why do you think I took you on as my apprentice?"

Puzzled, Maplepaw squinted. "W-what?"

"Why do you think you're my apprentice? Why not one of the other available warriors? Why not Ravenwing again?" Breezestar meowed patiently.

She blinked, still confused. "I… don't know."

"I see." Breezestar's mew was perfectly calm. "When you were a new apprentice, Maplepaw, I didn't see anything to make you stand out. You were like any other apprentice – you were eager to learn, and you wanted to become a warrior almost the day after being apprenticed." For another moment he was quiet. _Am I supposed to say something now?_ Maplepaw wondered. But before she could speak, Breezestar continued.

"One thing I did notice, however, was that you didn't have much family ties. While Duckfoot was your mother, even as a kit you preferred to play out in the clearing. You never called her "Mama" after learning her name, while Flowerkit and Daisykit kept calling Thistlefur that even when they were apprentices. Emberfoot was your father and deputy, but the attention you showed him was purely interest in Clan business. You always asked about how the patrols had gone, if they had seen any other cats at the border, if a lot of prey had been caught. You never asked him to play with you, and you never tried to seek his attention. While you were affectionate towards Willowpaw, you never went out of your way to show her love. In fact," Breezestar added, "the only cat you were ever really caring towards was Shredtail."

Maplepaw's ear-tips burned. _Is this some weird talk about me and Shredtail? Great StarClan, I hope not._

"And you were determined to become a warrior. I saw it when you trained. And while Ravenwing was teaching you well, he was clearly not the perfect choice to mentor you. He was too friendly, and you had so much potential." Breezestar paused to lick one white paw and draw it over his ears, then continued. "I didn't know how I could ask him to stop mentoring you, and then it was discovered that he was stealing prey. The perfect opportunity."

Maplepaw was speechless. _He wanted to change my mentor?_

Breezestar sighed heavily. "You are a strong cat, Maplepaw, and you have the qualities a leader needs. You are confident, but you've learned to know your limits. You're determined, and even exhaustion and overworking hasn't caused you to give up. You may be aloof, but I know you care about the Clan and its cats – even if you don't show it outwardly. You're brave – that was shown when you didn't run and hide from the battle on your first day as an apprentice. You are, in short, the leader ThunderClan will someday need."

Her mouth dropped open. "Are you telling me I should become the Clan leader? When? Are you sure? Do you really mean it?"

"Hold on," her mentor meowed sternly. "You need to listen a little bit longer. While all of these traits are important, I have also seen one other that shows up too often. You are too free with your anger." His voice grew gentle, and he leaned forward to lick her ear. "I know I have pushed you hard these past moons, and it angers you. But you take it out on Willowpaw." He gave her a searching look. "I know you don't really think your sister is useless."

"No!" Maplepaw burst out. "I – I love Willowpaw! And I worry about her! That's why I get so mad at her. I wish that she was stronger, because I always expect her to go out on patrol and… well… and not return."

Breezestar nodded. "Of course. You may not be older, but you're the stronger cat. You want to protect Willowpaw. But you can't always keep her safe." He paused. "It can be hard to have a sibling who you can't protect."

_A sibling you can't protect? Is he talking about Crowstar?_ Maplepaw wondered. Breezestar's green eyes had a faraway look, as if he could see through the wall of his den all the way to ShadowClan.

Suddenly the black tom shook himself. "Anyway, Maplepaw, that's all I have to say. You'd best go and apologize to Willowpaw for snapping at her like that, then get some rest."

Maplepaw nodded and got to her paws. Just as she was about to push past the lichen, Breezestar called out, "Oh, and one more thing, Maplepaw." She turned. _What now?_ But the leader's eyes were twinkling. "I know that if you set your mind to it, you could beat any kittypet who was so foolish as to cross your path." His whiskers twitched as he turned away. "Good night, Maplepaw. Sleep well."


	12. Chapter 11

Hi guys, Rainy here! Finally another chapter; sorry about that - I had a dry spell for several days. Here's Maplepaw's exploration of Twolegplace. I know this chapter is probably confusing because I'm really tired and can't focus on it well, so there are probably lots of mistakes. Please let me know if it's confusing, and I'll do my best to rewrite it making sense.

* * *

If Maplepaw had to choose a word to describe Twolegplace, it would have to be "big."

It was enormous! Endless rows of Twoleg dens surrounded by wooden borders, monsters at the mouth of all of them, and a smaller Thunderpath in the middle of the dens. And all of it under the cloudy grey sky that threatened a storm.

Breezestar nudged her. "What do you think of it?" His eyes were shadowed.

"It stinks," she admitted with a grimace. The Thunderpath filled the air with its rancid stench, while the smell of Twolegs was a constant undercurrent. And Maplepaw could smell all sorts of other things, too – cats, some strange milky scent, herbs, prey, and even more.

Her mentor nodded, wrinkling his nose. "The first time my mentor took me here, he told me that I would never forget that smell. And I never have."

On a fence nearby, Maplepaw suddenly noticed movement. A cat was there, staring at them with massive golden eyes – a grey tom. Her pelt bristled and she backed up a few steps. _Do I have to fight?_ But Breezestar smoothed her fur with his tail and padded forward, though Maplepaw could detect wariness in his gait.

"Greetings," he meowed to the tom.

The grey cat blinked at him. "Hi. Are you new here?"

Maplepaw snorted, and Breezestar glared at her over his shoulder. "I'm from the forest," he replied. "This is my apprentice, who I'm showing the Twolegplace. If you stay out of our way, you will have no trouble with us."

The kittypet's tail-tip twitched uncertainly. "You're from the forest?" He sniffed suddenly, and Maplepaw felt sorry for him briefly – from the expression on his face, he couldn't smell anything. _What must it be like to live here all the time, senses dulled by the sound and smell of Twolegplace? Depending on Twolegs for food and shelter?_

"That's right," Breezestar meowed. "The forest. It's just the two of us, though, so we assure you we're not here to fight."

"Oh, okay," the tom shrugged. "Good luck." Then, as if nothing had happened, he hopped off the fence and padded away down the strange hard surface next to the Thunderpath. Maplepaw turned her head to watch him go, curling her lip when she saw the tom's fat belly swing from side to side as he moved.

"And _that_," Breezestar mewed with a sigh, "was a kittypet. You've met your first one. Congratulations."

Maplepaw shook her head disgustedly. "He was fat and dumb. He didn't even care that we were going into his territory!"

Her mentor blinked at her. "Kittypets are strange like that – Twolegplace isn't considered their territory, just the little grassy plots inside the fences. Rogues or loners may consider Twolegplace to be their territory though – and if we find any of them, there could be danger. For this reason, I need you to stay right next to me at all times and do exactly as I say, you understand?"

"Right," Maplepaw agreed, raising her head. _I can do this!_

They padded deeper into Twolegplace for several minutes before Maplepaw saw one of the huge, lumbering creatures that inhabited the place. "Look, Breezestar," she whispered, "it's a Twoleg!"

He looked around, and she saw with a bit of surprise that her mentor's fur was raised along his spine. "Over there," she mewed softly, jerking her chin towards the Twoleg. At the same time, its eyes fell onto them.

With a strange cry, the Twoleg began to run towards them. When it did, Maplepaw yelped in shock – Breezestar had bristled hugely, making him look twice his size.

"Run!" he yowled, turning abruptly and half-skidding into a puddle of smelly water as he lunged down a different Thunderpath. _Where is he going?!_ Maplepaw thought, panicked – but the Twoleg was getting closer, so she began to dash after him.

Breezestar tore through Twolegplace, now-damp fur leaving drips of water and pawprints for Maplepaw to follow. The Twoleg had stopped chasing them by now, but her mentor was still running.

Maplepaw gasped for breath as she ran. Then Breezestar's pawprints took an abrupt turn into a darker street without a Thunderpath between two rows of bigger dens filled with Twolegs. There were big, awful-smelling green objects there that loomed eerily over her as she followed, but Maplepaw paid them little mind – she could see Breezestar's tail now.

She spun around a corner and saw a tall stone wall blocking them from moving on, and Breezestar was there, hackles raised as he faced a cat.

"So, Breezepaw, it's you again," the tom facing him growled. "Come crawling back to us? Was life in the forest too hard for you?"

_Breeze_paw_? Did this cat know Breezestar before?_ Maplepaw's thoughts whirled with curiosity and confusion.

Her mentor's obvious panic wasn't helping settle her mind any. The black tom was half-crouched defensively. "I –" he began, but hesitated. "I'm not –"

"Who are you?" Maplepaw asked, padding forward. "Breezestar, it stopped chasing us. We have to go back."

He didn't respond, but the tom facing him did. "And who's this? Some little queen from the forest?" Speaking directly to Maplepaw now, he mewed, "This brute hasn't mistreated you, has he?"

She curled her lip. "Breezestar is my mentor. I asked who you were."

"Ooh! Such an attitude!" the tom chuckled. He strode past Breezestar, thick black pelt smooth, and circled her once. "I'm just a filthy rogue. That's what you forest mange-pelts call me, right?" He laughed – a harsh croaking sound. _This cat is old, _Maplepaw realized as she saw white speckles on his muzzle. _Old enough to be an elder._

"Don't hurt her," Breezestar growled. "I took her here because she needed to see Twolegplace."

The older black tom snorted. "'Needed' to see this place, eh? Why's that? It's disgusting. Especially when it rains, and you two are going to get a good view of that." Sitting down a little bit away from Maplepaw, he added, "You want to know who I am, I'll tell you who I am. My name is Oleander."

_Weird name. Wonder if all rogues have names like that?_ Maplepaw wondered. "How do you know Breezestar?" she asked, looking over the rogue's shoulder at her mentor, who seemed unable to speak.

"How do I know him?" Oleander snorted. "Good question. I _wouldn't_ have known him if his 'mentor' hadn't taken him here. What was his name again, Breezepaw? Jay-something?"

"Jayshadow," Breezestar muttered. "His name was Jayshadow. And I'm Breeze_star_."

Oleander nodded sagely, though his eyes glinted in a way that was almost amused. "Right. Jayshadow, that's the one. That stupid trash-hunter took your mentor there into this place to show him around, then got himself caught by Twoleg kits. They killed him while Breezepaw – Breezestar – was watching." He shook his head. "Twoleg kits are vicious. These were some sort of in-between; they were too old to be kits but not quite full adults yet."

Breezestar shook his head, closing his eyes. "No… don't talk about Jayshadow like that. He was a good mentor – he was!"

"He was a trash-hunter," Oleander repeated, and to Maplepaw he added, "You'd call him a fox-brain, I think, or mouse-tail. Something like that. Whatever you forest cats call idiots."

"But how did _you_ know Breezestar?" Maplepaw mewed, growing more and more confused. _So Twolegs killed Breezestar's mentor? But then how did this cat…? What's going on?_

Oleander blinked, eyes lost for a moment, then dipped his head. "Right! That's what I was telling you, yeah. So after this Jayshadow fellow got killed, Breezepaw was stuck hiding there while the Twolegs were standing around and talking and eating their smoke-sticks –"

Maplepaw stared. "Smoke-stick?"

"They're these little brown and white sticks that Twolegs set on fire and eat, then breathe a lot of smoke. Don't ask me why; it smells terrible and they leave them lying around everywhere when they're done. Anyway, they were standing around and Breezepaw was hiding behind a dumpster – that's these green things – and trying not to make a sound when I showed up and basically saved his life. Took him back to the forest and everything." Oleander looked over his shoulder at Breezestar. "He told me a few things about him. I put two and two together and realized –"

"Nothing," Breezestar interrupted hastily. "He just found out a little about the forest, that's all."

_What's he afraid of? That this cat found out about the camp or something? It's not like he would launch an attack._ Maplepaw narrowed her eyes – something about the whole situation was off.

Then she let out a squeak of shock – a raindrop had dripped onto her muzzle. "Oh, no – it's raining!"

"Come on," Oleander meowed, getting to his paws. "I'll show you two back to the forest. Hurry up, I don't want to get caught in this for too long."

Maplepaw stood up and followed him, waiting for Breezestar. Her mentor was wide-eyed and still bristling. _Was it so horrible for him?_ Then she considered what it would be like having to watch Breezestar die. _I'd hate that,_ she shuddered. _But why did he bring me here when he has such bad memories? And what is his connection to Oleander?_


	13. Chapter 12

Hey guys, Rainy here. You guys get two chapters in a day - does this make up for me doing nothing for so many days? However, on a more serious note, I need to let you guys know that I will not be taking name suggestions at any point while writing unless I specifically ask for it. However, Petalwish, you happened to suggest the name Willowpaw was already getting. I don't want to sound terrible, but I did come up with the name before even writing the story - as I did for _all_ the cats in the Clans who would get warrior names throughout the book. At pivypiv: I can't tell you what Willowpaw has until it ceases to become an issue for her. After that, though, I will explain to everyone what she had. Until then, no telling!

* * *

"Maplepaw!"

The yowl made her spin around, and there was Blazepaw – lunging for her.

"Hey!" Maplepaw yelped, leaping out of the way as the small ginger apprentice landed and scared away her squirrel. She watched in frustration as its furry tail vanished up the tree ahead and into the leaves.

"Hi, Maplepaw!" Blazepaw exclaimed happily, oblivious to what she had done.

_Fox-dung! The first prey I've seen this whole time and she comes along just in time to scare it away!_ "What are you doing here?" Maplepaw growled. "Do you have any idea what I'm doing?"

Blazepaw circled Maplepaw happily, waving her tail cheerfully. "Sneaking around suspiciously? Maybe following my patrol?"

"Why would I follow – you know what, I'm not going there," Maplepaw snapped. "What's I'm _doing_ is hunting for my warrior assessment – and you just scared away the first thing I've seen all day."

She watched, unable to stop the small amount of vengeful satisfaction that swelled in her upon seeing the young apprentice's face fall. "Oh, no! I'm so sorry!" Blazepaw exclaimed, backing away a few steps with her tail drooping. "I – I didn't know you were having your warrior assessment today."

With a sigh, Maplepaw flicked Blazepaw's ears with her tail. "It's okay. Just go back to your patrol. If Breezestar saw that, he knows it's your fault!" she teased.

Blazepaw nodded. "Okay, Maplepaw. I'm really sorry," she repeated as she began to pad back into the forest.

_Finally. How am I supposed to get anything done with her hanging around?_ Maplepaw wondered crossly as she turned back to the task at hand. Tasting the air, she caught a faint trace of… rabbit?

_Rabbits don't usually come into this part of the forest,_ Maplepaw thought in delight. _That'd make a great catch! I hope Breezestar sees me. And I hope I don't mess up!_ Placing her paws carefully, she began to follow the scent, mouth barely open to taste for the rabbit's trail.

As she neared Snakerocks, its smell grew stronger. Considering the location, Maplepaw wondered if she wouldn't come across the rabbit killed by an adder. _I need to watch where I put my paws._

The trees parted, revealing the clearing of Snakerocks. Maplepaw could see the rabbit there, nibbling delicately at a patch of grass. Creeping closer as softly as she could, she checked to make sure that the wind wasn't directing her scent towards it. She forced her tail to stay still. Then a sudden breeze made the leaves above her rustle softly. The rabbit stopped eating and lifted its head.

She pounced.

The rabbit reacted just an instant too slowly; it began to run but Maplepaw was close enough to close the distance before it could escape. She put all of her energy into one swift lunge that took her close enough to break its back, killing it quickly. Before she could enjoy her triumph, she sensed movement off to the side and leaped back just as an adder struck. It bit at the ground and halted, apparently uncertain as to where its prey had gone.

Without thinking, Maplepaw darted forward and planted one paw on its neck so that it could neither move nor bite her. Then she bent down and stared at it from a distance, curious. _I've never seen an adder before._

It had a black zigzagging line on its back, and its sides were grey. Its muzzle had a small ridge, and its eyes were copper. On top of its head, there was a clear grey V pattern. Its scales were remarkably shiny, and Maplepaw found herself admiring the snake. _What would it be like to have no legs and have to crawl after your prey? How would you hunt?_ Examining its head again, she also had to wonder how it ate. _It obviously can't chew._

She almost regretted having to kill it, but knew it would attack her if she let it go. So, as carefully as she could, Maplepaw bent down and bit into its neck through its scales – which provided little resistance to her teeth – to kill it.

"Well done!"

Maplepaw jumped, looking wildly around until she saw Breezestar emerge from the bushes. His green eyes were pleased, and pride swelled in her.

"Killing an adder is no small feat," he congratulated her. "And that rabbit is a fine catch as well." He licked her ear, eyes gleaming with warmth. "You're going to be a fine warrior for ThunderClan, Maplepaw. Let's meet Antclaw and Willowpaw – they've finished by now as well. Take that adder, too… it's a trophy."

* * *

"I, Breezestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard to learn the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn."

Maplepaw stood tall, her thick tortoiseshell and white pelt shining in the dimming light. She had groomed for what felt like ages to be sure she would look a proper warrior for her ceremony, and then had helped Willowpaw – her sister was too stiff to reach most places. Both sisters were gleaming, even though Willowpaw was little more than a shadow of Maplepaw.

And Breezestar had never looked so majestic. The sun was setting, hovering above the treetops behind him so that his black fur seemed surrounded with a halo of glowing golden light. "Maplepaw, Willowpaw," he meowed, "do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Maplepaw spoke first, calling out as strongly and proudly as she could: "I do!"

Willowpaw's mew was softer, but there was no hesitation as she agreed, "I do."

Breezestar nodded down at them, eyes gleaming. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Willowpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Willowheart. StarClan honors your bravery and kindness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." He leaped down from the Highrock and stood in front of Willowheart to press his muzzle against her forehead, and she licked his shoulder before stepping back.

Now it was only Maplepaw standing there, heart pounding in excitement as she stared at the cat who had been her mentor. His eyes were shining proudly as he spoke. "Maplepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Mapleshade. StarClan honors your loyalty and determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Mapleshade closed her eyes, hardly daring to believe it, as Breezestar leaned forward and pressed his nose to the top of her head. As he did, he murmured, "You will be a great warrior. I expect great things from you, Mapleshade." She licked his shoulder, purring hard.

"Willowheart! Mapleshade! Willowheart! Mapleshade!"

The Clan's yowls filled the air as the two sisters stood side-by-side. Mapleshade sought out Shredtail and locked eyes with him. His cheering was filled with warmth as he called both names, but his eyes stayed with her.

"We're warriors," Willowheart breathed softly.

Mapleshade leaned down to cover her sister's ears with licks. "We sure are, Willow_heart_."


	14. Chapter 13

Hey guys, Rainy here. That was a ridiculously long break between stories. I am so, so sorry, you guys - I just had no idea what to do between big plot points and so I got really burned out (having homework and a Minecraft update didn't help either, I have to admit).

Okay! Review response time.

Petalwish: It's not really a problem that you suggested a name. It was a nice thought! Just don't do it again *insert terrifying serious voice and face here*. No, I'm kidding. Please don't, but don't feel bad about it at all. It's not your fault!

jayfeather12345: Thanks for the review! I remembered the one time that Ravenpaw in "Into the Wild" caught an adder, and decided that Mapleshade deserved a cool event for her assessment - since, unlike 90% of main character warrior ceremonies in the books, she was just having a normal assessment before her ceremony (I'm looking at YOU, Crookedjaw-who-didn't-even-have-a-warrior-ceremony ).

Giang Tien: Believe me, I wasn't mentioned in Starkit's Prophecy. I have avoided those stories as if they were the bubonic plague and certainly didn't review one. To confirm it, I forced myself to _*gag*_ **read it**. It was "Rainy Days" who the writer mentioned, not Daze. Also, thanks for the name compliment! I swear, it takes me longer to come up with warrior names I've never used that don't sound incredibly fake than it does to write the actual story.

All right, that's enough of my chattering, you guys. Here's the first chapter in like ten days, please enjoy.

* * *

"Hey, look who's grown up. Every time I see you, you look twice your size."

With a yelp, Mapleshade was poked in the flank and startled up by a now-familiar voice. It was Cedarpelt again. The dark tabby she can was leaning down so that her whiskers were brushing Mapleshade's.

"What? I don't want to see _you_ again," Mapleshade groaned. "Do you have anything helpful to say, or are you just going to complain about StarClan some more?"

Cedarpelt's whiskers twitched. "I deserved that, I admit it. Actually, this time I just wanted to talk like two warriors. It gets old in StarClan with all the prey and warmth you could ever need." She flicked her tail, and suddenly they were on the moors. A chilly breeze made Mapleshade shiver.

"Why the moors?" Mapleshade mewed, puzzled. "And why make it leaf-fall?"

The StarClan warrior bobbed her head. "It's leaf-fall now, isn't it? You've been a part of ThunderClan for four seasons, and you're a warrior now. Doesn't that make you proud? You and your sister?"

Mapleshade blinked. _What does Willowheart have to do with anything?_ Cedarpelt was avoiding her gaze, peering past her at the moor.

"As for the moors…" Cedarpelt meowed calmly, stretching out and raising her rump, "they're my home."

"Wait a minute! You're a WindClan cat?" Mapleshade gasped, thick pelt bristling in shock as she took a few steps backwards. The long, sharp grass on the moor crackled under her paws.

The dark tabby rolled her amber eyes dramatically. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "I was a WindClan cat! I must be here to lead ThunderClan to ruin!" Snorting with annoyance, she looked away from Mapleshade. "Yes, I was born in WindClan. And was raised in WindClan. And had kits in WindClan. And died in WindClan. And from StarClan, I watched my daughter's kit become leader of WindClan."

"Which WindClan leader?" Mapleshade queried, too curious now to begrudge the StarClan warrior. "Surely not Sparrowstar."

"Indeed. Sparrowstar," Cedarpelt agreed coolly. "Redsky is still alive, actually. She's an elder, true, but my daughter still has a few seasons left in her." She chuckled wistfully. "I wish I had the chance to join the elders of WindClan."

"What happened to you?" Mapleshade asked, sitting down next to Cedarpelt.

The tabby cocked her head to one side ponderingly. "Hmm… I'll tell you if you run a little bit with me. It's been ages since I've been on the WindClan moors." So saying, she pounced to her paws and suddenly shot away.

Mapleshade scrambled to her paws and chased after Cedarpelt, doing her best not to stumble over the thick clumps of grass. Despite her best efforts, the former WindClan warrior was far faster than her and quickly vanished from sight. _How could a whole Clan of cats choose to live in this stupid field?_ Mapleshade wondered as her paw caught under a root.

Finally, she caught sight of Cedarpelt standing atop a hill, short fur flipping around in the wind. Panting, she climbed up and halted next to her. To her surprise, the StarClan cat didn't appear tired at all. If anything, she was refreshed. Her eyes were sparkling and her tail waved eagerly.

"So? What happened?" Mapleshade prompted, trying to bring the warrior down from her energetic trance.

Cedarpelt spun around, blinking. "Oh! Oh. Er, right. Sorry." She shook herself vigorously and sat down, waving her dark brown tail for Mapleshade to sit down next to her. "What did I actually tell you?"

"You didn't have a chance to join the elders of WindClan?" Mapleshade checked.

"Ah. Right." Cedarpelt nodded, looking out across the moor with a wistful expression.

"It's not much of a story, really. I was a warrior of WindClan like any other. Redsky's only kit had just been born – Sparrowkit. I decided that I would go hunting by myself and catch a rabbit for her. It was leaf-bare, so prey was scarce and I knew it would be hard to catch something. Still, it was worth it for my daughter." She looked at Mapleshade with an odd gleam in her eyes. "You… you might know what I mean someday. Maybe not." Laying down and tucking her paws under her, she sighed a little bit. "When you have a kit, you feel as if you would do anything for them.

"Anyway, I headed out to hunt even though it was getting close to sunset. I ran and searched for what felt like forever, and before I knew it the sun had gone down and it was dark. That's when I heard the badger." She closed her eyes. "Have you seen a badger?"

"No," Mapleshade admitted uncertainly.

Cedarpelt nodded, a shiver making her fur ripple. "They're… massive. Vast black and white creatures, easily twice the size of a full-grown cat. They would eat kits if they got the chance, I imagine. And usually it takes a full patrol to take one down. Well, I heard a badger and began to veer in the other direction. However, I smelled the trail and realized that I had heard it wrong – the moor echoes a lot, and in my excitement I hadn't tried to pinpoint exactly where the sound came from.

"Just then, the badger lunged out of the grass ahead of me. It was roaring angrily, and I was completely taken by surprise. It got in one good hit, ripping my ear to shreds." She flicked her ears as if remembering the painful hit. "I managed to roll over so the blow wasn't too hard, and when I gained my paws…" Cedarpelt stopped speaking, licking her muzzle nervously. "I…" She stopped again, and Mapleshade saw a broken look in her eyes.

She lay down and pressed her back to the StarClan warrior, lending her strength. "You don't have to go on if it's too hard," she mewed quietly.

Cedarpelt flinched. "No, I have to tell it all." For another moment she was silent, then she burst out, "I should have just run! The badger didn't want me; it was hunting or going back to its den. I could have outrun it easily!" She quivered. "But I was energetic and angry. So I attacked it – something so stupid only a new warrior would try. I got in a few blows before it finally got tired of me and just tore my throat." She swallowed hard. "Then it just walked away."

Mapleshade stared at her. "That's awful."

"That's not all, though," Cedarpelt continued. "Remember, I told you I was hunting for my daughter. I wanted her to know I loved her, since there was no way I could make it back to camp. So I… I just kept hunting." She shook her head, flattening her ears. "The badger had gotten away and I stank of blood, but I found the trail of a rabbit and I tracked it into the night. Finally I found it, and before it could even smell blood I just jumped on it and killed it. Then I blacked out." She turned to look Mapleshade in the eye. "When I woke up, I was in StarClan. I didn't even wait to find out how to do anything – I went back to WindClan as quickly as I could. Redsky was devastated, but she ate the rabbit. That was all I cared about at that point."

Stopping abruptly, Cedarpelt turned away and looked at the sky, which was slowly growing lighter. "Look at that," she sniffed, "you got me to start rambling and now I've wasted the whole night talking."

Mapleshade stretched forward, barely aware of what she was doing, and rasped her tongue over Cedarpelt's ear gently. "I'm sorry that you didn't get to join the elders before you joined StarClan, Cedarpelt," she mewed quietly, sobered by everything she had heard.

The tabby warrior didn't look back at her. "I need to be alone. Please just go, you'll wake up soon anyway."

Mapleshade got to her paws and turned away, beginning to pad towards the hill where the sun was slowly rising. As it crested the horizon, she turned and looked back at Cedarpelt. The former WindClan warrior was still lying down, looking up at the sky. But as the first light of dawn touched her pelt, she began to fade until the patch of grass was empty.

"I'm sorry," Mapleshade mewed respectfully.

Then she was awake in the warriors' den, and Willowheart's hind paw was jabbing her in the ribs while the senior warriors snored.


	15. Chapter 14

Hey guys, Rainy here. I wanted to apologize in advance for one thing about the story in advance: inconsistencies in time. I'm terrible at planning, but there are clearly some cats in the canon stories that are alive during Mapleshade's time (such as Sweetbriar, Pinestar's mother, and possibly Pinestar himself along with several of the elders in the Super Editions) and are not mentioned here. This is because I am still working on my writing and didn't plan for this, stupidly. So, sorry about that.

Thank you so much for reviewing, you guys! I know last chapter didn't have much in the way of plot, but I wanted to clear up the many misunderstandings with Cedarpelt (as there is also a Cedarpelt in RiverClan during _Crookedstar's Promise_). This one sorta kinda - ah, I won't say anything. Let me know what you think about it after you've finished reading.

To Gummysaur: Sorry about the thing with ShadowClan territory. I was using a map as my basis at the time, and I noticed that ShadowClan territory looks quite large (though of course they could set the edge of their territory nearly anywhere, so that didn't make sense). Thanks for the notice, and I'll have to remember that for any other stories concerning the Clans in the forest (if there are any).

All right, that's all for now. Enjoy the chapter, and sorry about the wait in between them.

* * *

Mapleshade padded as quietly as she could out of the warriors' den, white tail swishing nervously around her haunches. She could hear Robinfeather in the nursery, cooing softly to lull her kits to sleep, and she snickered softly when she saw that Daisythorn, tasked with guarding the entrance to camp, was sprawled out on her back snoring. _Stupid furball. I hope Breezestar finds her like that._

It would be easy to sneak out of camp like this, she figured, but it would be better not to take any chances. Setting her paws down carefully, she crept out to the dirtplace. Her nose wrinkled as she passed the sandy patch of ground, but she knew it would disguise her scent.

Twolegplace wasn't too far away. Hopefully, she thought, Oleander would be easy to find. She didn't want to get lost and end up stuck outside of camp when the sun rose. Breezestar would be furious.

She brushed past bushes, wincing as traces of frost dropped onto her pelt and melted, trickling icy water through her fur. It was the claw-moon, a sliver of silver floating in the sky all that lit the way, and the trees loomed over her as massive, shadowy figures. Their branches seemed to be groping through the darkness for her, and Mapleshade shuddered when a breeze made them rustle and dance.

Ducking under a bramble bush, Mapleshade cursed under her breath when she heard the squeal of a mouse. She'd scared it away before she had seen it. _At least no one is out hunting this late._

"Who's there?"

_Fox-dung! Who in StarClan's name is that?_

"Hello?" It was a low voice, dark and threatening, yet familiar. Mapleshade blinked, lifting her head. _Hang on! That's Shredtail!_

"Shredtail, it's me," she called quietly. Her friend suddenly appeared from the bushes to her left, green eyes dark. She squawked in surprise, leaping back a tail-length.

He lowered his head and peered at her curiously. "Mapleshade? What are you doing out here so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she retorted.

Shredtail snorted and rolled his eyes. "Hunting, what do you think? Until you scared away that mouse. It's getting closer to leaf-bare, and we need all the prey we can get."

"Fine. Go back to hunting," Mapleshade replied curtly. "Wouldn't want to distract you."

He frowned. "It's a little too late for that. Where are you going?"

Mapleshade shrugged. "Wandering around is all. It got too stuffy in the warriors' den, especially with Willowheart kicking me like she always does. I figured I could walk around for a while by myself, clear my head and use a little energy, then head back and sleep." She didn't put any inflection on the words "by myself," but Shredtail's eyes sharpened at them.

"I see," he agreed quietly. "Well, I'd best leave you to your walking. Enjoy." The last word he tossed over his shoulder as he turned and began padding back into the undergrowth, stump of a tail flicking back and forth.

_I didn't mean to insult him,_ Mapleshade thought mournfully. _Oh well. At least he left._ Turning away from Shredtail, she strolled forward and deliberately stepped on the next few sticks she could find. They cracked loudly and a worm of satisfaction squirmed inside of her when she heard tiny paws scuttling away and Shredtail's curse in the distance.

No time seemed to have passed before Twolegplace was looming ahead of her, dimly lit by the tiny moon. She could see shadowy forms of cats padding around, but there were too many other scents to discern if one of them was Oleander.

"Hi! I remember you! You're from the forest!"

She drew back with a hiss of shock as a cat's form popped up right in front of her. It was a plump grey tom with golden eyes, and with some measure of surprise she realized it was the kittypet she and Breezestar had met when her former mentor first took her to Twolegplace.

"Hello," she mewed carefully.

"My name is Thomas!" he exclaimed happily, oblivious to her annoyance. "What's your name? And where's that cat that was with you before?"

Twitching her tail-tip irritably, Mapleshade mewed, "He's at the ThunderClan camp, probably sleeping. What are _you_ doing awake, anyway? I thought kittypets went to sleep before the sun set."

If the grey tom heard the scorn in her tone, he gave no sign of it. "Yeah, most do. But some of my best friends are awake at night, so I stay awake to talk to them! My housefolk don't know why I'm always sleepy during the day; they just think I'm lazy. But that's okay." He shrugged nonchalantly.

Mapleshade stared at him incredulously. _How can you not care if anyone thinks you're lazy?_ She couldn't imagine how the kittypet could stand it. "What's a housefolk?"

"They're the ones who take care of me, of course!" he purred. "You're pretty strange. Don't you have housefolk in the forest?"

She snorted. "No. We take care of ourselves. We hunt and fight for food when we need it."

The tom's golden eyes grew huge. "What? You fight? Wow! That's amazing! Oh, but I think some of my friends fight, too. Like this big black tom. I don't know who he is, or at least I don't know his name, but he's just _covered_ in scars!"

"A big black tom?" _Could he mean Oleander?_ Mapleshade wondered. "Could you take me to see this cat?"

The kittypet frowned. "I don't know where he stays. But he's mostly awake at night, so I could take you to where he usually stays, I suppose. But you've got to tell me your name first!"

"Mapleshade," she snapped. "Now can we go?"

"Of course. Follow me," the tom purred, getting to his paws and waving his fluffy white-tipped tail. "Just don't be mean like that to all the cats you see, 'cause a bunch of my friends are rough. They'd probably bite you for growling at them like that."

_Rogues? He's friends with rogues?_ Mapleshade was impressed. _This cat must have _something_ going for him, to impress a bunch of rogues._

They padded for ages, turning down seemingly random Thunderpaths until Thomas finally halted. "Here we are," he mewed cheerfully, flicking his ears forward. "The tom is usually under that dumpster. I think one of my other friends is here, too." He strode forward. "Hi, Chestnut! It's me, Thomas!"

Mapleshade blinked as a slender, surprisingly pretty dark tabby she-cat turned. Her ears, paws, and chest were all stark white in contrast to her dark fur, and her eyes were sparkling blue. She blinked at the grey kittypet. "Hello, Thomas. Who's that with you?" Her voice seemed amicable, but Mapleshade could detect suspicion.

"This is Mapleshade. She's from the forest," the kittypet confided in a hushed mew.

"Maple what?" The deep, rumbling voice came from the shadows beneath a large green box. "Say that again?"

"Mapleshade," Thomas repeated.

"Maple_shade_? Huh." The voice was dubious, but a few moments later a massive black tom crawled out from under the box. His green eyes were guarded cautiously. Mapleshade narrowed her eyes and saw white fur speckling the tom's thick pelt.

"Oleander?" she ventured hesitantly. "Is that you?"

The cautious look in his eyes dissipated immediately. "Oh, Maplepaw! It's you!" He crossed the distance between them and dipped his head down to tap noses with her – _as if we were friends,_ Mapleshade thought in surprise. "What are you doing here? Especially so late."

"I…" she hesitated, suddenly not certain that she should have come. "I wanted to find out more about how you met Breezestar. It seemed like he was hiding something. Oh, and I'm Mapleshade now. I'm a warrior."

Oleander began to purr, but it quickly tapered off into a raspy cough. "Well, that's good for you, then, little one. I suppose it's good that you forest cats do have _some_ of your wits about you, at least enough to be curious. I thought you were supposed to accept everything your leaders said and never question it."

"Well, that's true," she admitted. "But when you were taking us back to the edge of the forest that time, you said that you put two and two together and Breezestar cut you off. I wanted to know why."

The black tom's green eyes darkened. "I see," he croaked. "That's it, hmm?"

She nodded.

"All right. Chestnut, you'll want to be here for this as well, I assume. Thomas, you ought to go." Oleander flicked his tail at the grey kittypet. "Sorry, but this isn't something you need to know."

"But it sounds so cool!" Thomas protested, eyes wide. "Please, I promise not to tell _anyone_ about it!"

Oleander rolled his eyes and grunted, which apparently seemed to be approval, because Thomas sat down next to Mapleshade eagerly. Chestnut came and sat next to Oleander, twining her tail with his. Mapleshade caught the affectionate gesture. _Are they mates?_

"Breezestar is the leader of your Clan, right?" the black tom checked. When Mapleshade nodded, he sighed. "He and his brother are both ambitious. We saw it in them as kits."

"Kits?!" Mapleshade yelped, bristling in shock.

Chestnut blinked the affirmative. "Our kits, to be exact. Breezestar and… well, we don't really know what his brother's name is now. We called him Bandit. He was almost all black, but he had a white chest and his ears were white, like mine. They both had Oleander's green eyes, though." She blinked at Oleander affectionately.

"Crowstar!" Mapleshade gasped. "So the rumors _were_ true… they really are brothers!"

Oleander nodded, closing his eyes. "Chestnut had her own Twolegs back then, and they didn't want kits. And, well, she knew I wouldn't be a good father. She was right, of course." He sighed. "So she told me to leave them at the Thunderpath near the forest. Twolegs would see them, she reasoned, or the cats in the forest would find them. And… well, they did."

Mapleshade stared at them. "So… you're Breezestar's father?"

The black tom nodded. "I am. But he wants nothing to do with me, so don't tell him you talked to me. He'd be furious, I'm sure. No warrior wants to think that they were the kit of a kittypet and a rogue."

Chestnut leaned against him. "Even if the rogue is one of the best cats ever to grace Twolegplace."

"I'm not that great," Oleander grumbled. "I'm greedy and grumpy and all I ever do is complain that you don't bring me enough prey when you're the skinny one."

Mapleshade frowned. _So Breezestar isn't from the forest. Is that okay? Is it okay for him and Crowstar to be leaders of Clans?_ "I should get back," she mewed, noting that she didn't have much time left. "Thank you for talking to me."

"We can all go with you," Oleander offered. "Thomas needs to go back to his Twolegs, and I'd like a look into the forest one more time before I die."

"You're not going to die," Chestnut argued, rubbing her muzzle along his. "You're too stubborn."

"Nonsense," Oleander replied. "I'm ready to get out of this stinking place. I may not have an afterlife filled with cats I knew waiting for me like you forest cats, but at least I won't be here anymore. And I won't be so tired." Heaving himself to his paws, he began to trot briskly towards the main Thunderpath, looking over his shoulder. "Come on, you lot. We've got to get this warrior home before her Clan notices that she's missing."

Chestnut was the first to stand, rushing to his side and leaning against him – at first glance, a gesture of affection, but Mapleshade saw that the tom was moving awkwardly. Chestnut was supporting him. She stood up and followed them, with Thomas bouncing along excitedly after her.

At last, the fresh scent of the forest began to permeate the stench of Twolegplace. Mapleshade's paws went weak with relief – she felt trapped in this hard-edged place. "I think I can find my way from here," she offered to the cats traveling with her. "Thanks for taking me here." She strode forward, past Oleander and Chestnut, following her nose now. Too excited about getting back to look around, she dashed right onto the Thunderpath.

A vibration under her paws was the first thing that alerted her that something was amiss. Then she was bathed in blinding yellow light. Her pupils instantly contracted as she turned to face it, and suddenly Mapleshade froze.

A massive monster was bearing down on her, roaring like a warrior of LionClan. And she couldn't move her paws.

Suddenly she felt a massive shove and was hurled out of the way. She yowled as she skidded across the Thunderpath, but was cut off when a heavy _thud_ rang in her ears. The monster roared on, oblivious to what it had done. Mapleshade got to her paws, ignoring the stinging in her pads, and turned around.

A limp black form lay prone on the Thunderpath.

"O-Oleander?"

Chestnut's mew was very, very shaky. The tabby she-cat tottered forward, suddenly looking older than any of ThunderClan's elders, and leaned over the black lump. A cold claw sank into Mapleshade's heart as she realized that the lump was Oleander. She rushed over as quickly as she could, sniffing at his pelt. Chestnut sat down abruptly, eyes dull and stunned.

Mapleshade sat back on her haunches, cringing as a metallic scent bathed her mouth and nose. _Blood._

Oleander was completely still. His eyes were still open, though they were clouded over now. Even as Mapleshade watched, his pelt rose and fell one time. Then it stopped.

"I'm so sorry," she breathed, staring down at him.

Chestnut looked up at Mapleshade and rasped, in a horribly broken voice, "I think you'd better go."

Mapleshade got to her paws and began to pad towards where she could smell the forest. When she looked over her shoulder, Chestnut had buried her brown muzzle in Oleander's pelt and her frail body was shaking.

_He died to save me._ The thought rang in her mind as she hurried towards the forest. _He died to save me._

_He was a hero._


	16. Chapter 15

Hey guys, Rainy here. Thanks for reviewing, as always, and here's the next chapter of Mapleshade's Destiny as a thank-you. Sorry about the shortness of this one; I needed this part to happen but there wasn't a lot of other things happening - meaning it was either come up with something on the spot or write one of the shortest chapters yet. So here's this. I'm already working on the next chapter, so hopefully I'll finish that by tonight or tomorrow.

That's all, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Mapleshade couldn't think of anything more delicious than a fat squirrel.

She had been out hunting all day, paws filled with energy, and had brought back three birds and a mouse – a lot of prey for the middle of leaf-bare. Because of that, some of the senior warriors had let her take the squirrel. It was rich and meaty, one of the most filling things she'd eaten in moons.

"We're back!"

Emberfoot got up from his place nearby and crossed to the camp entrance, awaiting the cats who had spoken. Mapleshade sat up curiously. _He looks nervous._

Rushflame padded into the camp, ears twitching. Leaning forward, he mewed something into Emberfoot's ear and cast a glance over his shoulder. Mapleshade tipped her head to one side when her father's frown deepened.

Antclaw followed him in, tail-tip twitching. Her blue eyes were dark. Behind her there were two cats. _Wait a second, this is Willowheart's patrol,_ Mapleshade realized just as her sister staggered into the camp.

Her eyes widened in shock. The scrawny silver tabby was leaning heavily on Nightheart, breath coming in small but violent pants that made her small frame jerk sharply.

"What happened?" Mapleshade exclaimed, leaving her squirrel behind to rush to her sister. She sniffed her all over, trying to find an injury, but smelled no blood. Instead it was just Willowheart's warm scent, tinged with a foul and sour stench of illness that made Mapleshade recoil.

"Nothing _happened_," Willowheart croaked, shifting her paws to get a better stance. "I just don't feel well and I tripped."

Emberfoot padded over, halting beside Mapleshade and leaning down to lick Willowheart's ear. "Of course, little one. Still, if you feel ill, you should go to Mistyfur."

"Fine," Willowheart rasped agreeably. "Bye, Mapleshade." She began to limp away, and Duckfoot quickly crossed the camp to give her aid.

"Bye," Mapleshade meowed softly as she watched her sister head towards the medicine den with their mother. Then she turned to her father. "What's wrong? What's wrong with her?"

He brushed his ginger and white tail over her back, smoothing her pelt. "Come talk with me," he commanded gently. Mapleshade stood up and followed as her father padded across the camp to sit down in a more secluded spot. He waved his tail for her to sit down, and she did.

"Ow!" she yelped, turning around to nibble at her haunches. _I sat on a StarClan-forsaken thorn!_ Mapleshade flicked her ears back crossly when she heard Emberfoot chuckle. At last, she plucked the thorn out of her haunches and spat it back into the brambles, licking at the wounded area.

"You were always the one to get thorns caught in your fur," Emberfoot mewed affectionately. "Willowheart's fur is too thin, but your pelt is like mine – thick."

Mapleshade turned around and gave him a level stare. "You noticed? I'm surprised." She narrowed her eyes when her father shifted his gaze, wearing a guilty expression.

"I don't know what you mean, Mapleshade," he began, but she cut him off.

"Of course you do. You and Duckfoot both. You always loved Willowheart and… tolerated me. I didn't even know you were my father until I was three moons old and Flowerkit told me." She snorted. "Don't know what I mean, is that it? Fine. Breezestar's more like a father to me anyway. At least _he_ would have told me if he knew there was something wrong with Willowheart." The guilty look in her father's blue eyes was all the proof she needed. "Well, you haven't told me before, so tell me now. What's wrong with her?"

Emberfoot sighed heavily. "We don't know. Mistyfur and Blizzardpelt are trying to find out, but they don't know either. She's too skinny – she eats all the time and she's still skinny – and she can't sleep for very long. We thought you'd noticed."

"You thought I'd noticed? Of course I noticed!" Mapleshade snapped. "But it's obviously gotten worse!" She rose to her paws, glaring at the ginger and white tom. "You should have told me anyway! She's my _sister_!"

"And she's my daughter!" Emberfoot growled, surging to his paws as well with anger glinting in his eyes. "I care about her!"

Mapleshade curled her lip. "You should show it." Shoving past him, she stalked back to the camp. "Shredtail," she called over one shoulder. The dark tabby looked up. "Hunting," Mapleshade ordered him. "Now."

Abandoning the scraps of prey he'd been finishing, Shredtail got to his paws and hurried after Mapleshade.

* * *

"Does he know what's wrong with her?" Shredtail mewed softly.

Mapleshade shook her head, clenching her jaw and lashing her tail. "No one knows. But they didn't tell me anything. That's what makes it the worst, Shredtail – they didn't bother to tell me. Do they think I don't care about her? Willowheart is my _sister_; how could I ignore her?"

Her friend licked the top of her head gently, and Mapleshade realized that she had been digging her claws into the soft earth below her paws. "I just don't know what to do," she confessed. "I can't help her. And I'd like to shred Emberfoot right now, but that won't help."

"No," Shredtail agreed. "We do need a deputy. Say, that reminds me," he added, "Breezestar's getting pretty old. Did he ever tell you how many lives he had left?"

Mapleshade frowned. "No. I don't think leaders tell anyone how many lives they have, except maybe medicine cats. I know he doesn't have all his lives."

The dark tabby tom nodded. "Yeah. I bet he has… three."

"Three?" Mapleshade echoed, blinking at him. "What brought you to that conclusion?"

Shredtail shrugged. "I don't know. I just think he has three lives."

"That's a mousebrained way to think!" she protested, swatting playfully at him. "If that's how you're going to act, then I'll be the same way. I bet he has all nine lives still."

Shredtail growled playfully, ducking into an attack stance. "Oh, yeah? Why is that?"

"Because he's the best fighter in all the Clans, and he taught me how to fight like him!"

Mapleshade pounced on Shredtail and they grappled, rolling around on the peaty soil of the forest. Dappled sun shone through breaks in the leaves above them, turning the forest golden.

Finally, she pinned her friend down. "Got you," she teased.

Shredtail struggled, trying to get free, but finally gave up. "Oh, fine, you've got me." He splayed out in a surrendering pose, purring. "Do as you will."

She stretched out and tickled his belly with her claws, purring when he curled up with a yowl of indignation. _It's good to have a friend like Shredtail to cheer me up,_ she thought. But her thoughts quickly returned to Willowheart, and she sighed. _I hope she's okay._


	17. Chapter 16

Hey guys, Rainy here after quite some time (or at least, it's been a while since the last chapter of Mapleshade's Destiny).

To In The Forest: I originally planned on including more Dark Forest warriors, but really Mapleshade is the main one. Maggottail is a warrior from the Dark Forest, you might notice, and by the way he's in this chapter.

To pretty much everyone else: thank you for all of your reviews! It's always awesome to hear from you, and I'm sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I was working on one-shots (which, if you get the chance, I'd appreciate reviews for those).

That's all - now to the story!

* * *

Mapleshade halted. The rest of her patrol stopped, turning back to her.

"I smell ShadowClan," she growled. "Do you think they've crossed the border?"

Ravenwing blinked at his former apprentice. "We _are_ at the Thunderpath," he pointed out. "Their scent could have drifted across into our territory."

She shook her head. "No, it's too fresh. We should move more cautiously." She sighed when Ravenwing exchanged a skeptical glance with Mallowleaf.

"Sure," he complied at last. "I suppose it can't hurt to be careful. Let's keep –" He was cut off as a cat hurtled out of the bushes, yowling at him.

Mapleshade snarled. _I knew it!_ Hissing, she launched herself into the bushes and clawed at the first cat she found – Scorchclaw, a dark ginger tom. He spat at her, swiping fiercely at her muzzle and leaving scratches across it. She dragged him out of the bushes, squawking in alarm as a group of other ShadowClan warriors followed.

It was a battle patrol, clearly there to attack. They growled and bristled at the ThunderClan border patrol.

"Quick," Mapleshade called to the cat behind her – Sweetpaw, Robinfeather's kit – as she fended off Scorchclaw's blows. "Get into the forest where they won't be able to hit you!"

The small ginger she-cat nodded and hared away into the bushes, tail tucked between her legs so that the ShadowClan warriors couldn't drag her back into the battle. Mapleshade couldn't help but approve; the young she-cat had worked hard every day trying to prove that she was a good apprentice, even though Flowerpetal ignored her like she did anyone she didn't particularly like. _I wish I was her mentor._

Her thoughts were interrupted when Scorchclaw sliced a notch in her ear. Hissing, she kicked out with one leg and struck him right in the side of his front leg where it bent. To her surprise, the entire leg crumpled inwards and he stared at her, eyes enormous.

Then he shrieked.

Mapleshade backed away. _What happened to him? I just hit his leg!_ But she could see that it was no simple blow. His leg had bent sideways, something she had never seen. _Did… did I break his leg?_

Scorchclaw stared at her, wide-eyed in agony. His green glare was accusing. _What have you done?_ he seemed to ask. _What have you done to me?_

Ravenwing kicked away the pale ginger and white she-cat who was biting his flank and rushed to Mapleshade's side. He sniffed Scorchclaw carefully, jerked his head back when the ginger tom swiped at him savagely.

"What have you done to him?!" the ginger and white she-cat screeched, shoving the ThunderClan warriors to the side. Her green eyes were huge as she sniffed Scorchclaw frantically. "Father!" she yowled, leaning down. "Father!"

He grimaced, struggling to three paws. His injured front leg dragged limply on the ground. Scorchclaw glared bitterly at Mapleshade. "We came to avenge Maggottail, you worm-hearted pieces of fox-dung. You killed him and crippled me, and you think ShadowClan will let this stand? Crowstar will make you pay for what you did." His snarl was deep.

"What do you mean, we killed Maggottail?" Ravenwing demanded, stepping forward. His long black tail swished around his legs as he stared at Scorchclaw, puzzled. "We haven't killed any cat."

"Really?" Scorchclaw hissed. "Then why have we found ThunderClan fur between his claws? Some cat pushed him onto the Thunderpath – right in front of a monster! He was murdered by one of _your_ warriors; don't try to deny it."

Mapleshade frowned. "We would never do such a thing!"

"Brown tabby fur that absolutely stunk of ThunderClan," Scorchclaw snapped, swinging around to face her and peeling his lips back from his teeth in a fearsome grimace. "If you want the proof, you'll have to get it from Crowstar yourself – but don't think that feigning ignorance will get you out of trouble. ThunderClan has already wronged ShadowClan enough; we will not stand for it any longer!"

Now Ravenwing looked away, evidently remembering how he had once stolen from ShadowClan. Mallowleaf padded forward in his place, ears flattened. "ShadowClan has been repaid for _everything_. You're just making trouble for no reason. So what do you want this time? Prey? Have your warriors all gone soft?"

The she-cat at Scorchclaw's side bristled. "We want vengeance! Our warriors are as strong as they've ever been, but one of your cats has killed one of ours. It's unforgivable!"

Mapleshade moved forward to stand beside Mallowleaf. "ThunderClan warriors are honorable – we would never resort to murder for anything! How can you be sure Maggottail didn't just ambush one of us and get hit on his way back across the Thunderpath?"

"That's right," Mallowleaf agreed sharply, glancing at Mapleshade out of the corner of her eye. "I know Maggottail. Never in all my days have I seen a cat so desperate for blood. He's a maggot at heart as well as in name."

"Was," the young she-cat snarled. "But he wasn't. He was a good cat. And now he's dead, because of your Clan."

Ravenwing lashed his tail. "No ThunderClan warrior would murder another cat. You're just trying to start a fight. But you won't get one, not now. Cross the Thunderpath and go back into your own territory. Breezestar will hear of this."

Scorchclaw growled deep in his throat. "And you can be assured Crowstar will hear of how one of ThunderClan's StarClan-blessed warriors crippled me."

Mapleshade forced her pelt to lie flat then, though it took great effort. "If it's an apology you want, I'm sorry I hurt your leg. But it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't attacked us." She flicked her tail at the Thunderpath, several tail-lengths away through the bushes. "Go back now."

Scorchclaw leaned heavily on the ginger and white she-cat and twitched his ears, ordering the patrol of ShadowClan warriors to follow them. They did, casting suspicious glances at the ThunderClan cats as they passed.

Once their scent had faded, Ravenwing let out a shuddery sigh. "Thank StarClan they're gone. Do you think they were telling the truth about some cat killing Maggottail?"

"Of course not," Mallowleaf dismissed immediately. "I'm sure it's like Mapleshade said – he attacked someone and got hit on the way back." She looked over her shoulder at where the ShadowClan patrol had vanished. "We should finish marking the border and hurry back to camp to report to Breezestar so that he can bring it up at the next Gathering."

Mapleshade nodded as the senior warrior began to lead them further along the border. Sweetpaw emerged from the bushes, leaves dotting her pelt, and rushed up to pad after Mallowleaf. Mapleshade fell in beside Ravenwing and mewed, "Are you okay?"

"Just shaken," he admitted. "I've avoided ShadowClan ever since… well, you know." Ravenwing sighed. "I wasn't expecting to fight them – and I'm worried. What if it's true? What if someone really did kill Maggottail?"

Mapleshade hesitated before head-butting him affectionately. "It's okay. That snake-hearted warrior deserved it. Besides, why would he be fighting with one of our cats unless he ambushed them? It's crazy to even think that one of us did that."

Ravenwing blinked at her. "Yes, you're right. And I shouldn't have doubted our Clanmates, anyway." A purr rumbled in his throat. "Thank you, Mapleshade."


	18. Chapter 17

Hey guys, Rainy here. I know I've been terrible with updates lately; a lot of my effort is being split into small bits of separate stories so that none of them actually get anything done. Hopefully, after NaNoWriMo next month, the creative process will help a little bit more.

To Shadowclanwarrior: Thanks for the review, and sorry it took me so long to update. I used to be much more consistent, but school is beginning to pick up enough that I struggle to find time to type.

To RandomWarriorsFan228 and Petalwish: It was originally my intent to have Ravenwing fall for Mapleshade as well as the other obvious cat(s?), but then I decided that it wasn't such a good idea. Mapleshade was his apprentice, and certainly developed a strong bond with him in the short time he was her mentor. Even though his theft from ShadowClan made her lose a lot of respect, he regained it all by becoming the best warrior he could be to make up for it. Ravenwing, on the other hand, has seen that a certain cat cares a lot about Mapleshade and would never think to intrude on that relationship - especially because he is related to said cat. He also doesn't see her that way, and merely respects her as a Clanmate and a good friend.

Anyway, enough talk from me. I may take a while to put out the next chapter, not just for the normal reasons but after this, I have to find something to write about. Big stuff happens soon, but how to lead into it is the real question...

I'm still talking, sorry. I'll shut up and let you all enjoy the story.

* * *

It began a few moons after ShadowClan attacked them.

Mapleshade and Willowheart had been warriors for two seasons by then. It was mid-greenleaf, one of the hottest the Clans had ever seen – or at least that was what all the elders were grumbling about. But they had a point; it was very hot.

Shredtail and Mapleshade had returned from hunting together near Sunningrocks, pushing into the camp side-by-side with eyes sparkling. Shredtail opened his mouth to speak when Willowheart called her sister's name.

"Mapleshade!"

Mapleshade looked away from Shredtail over to where her sister was sitting, fur ruffled. To her alarm, Willowheart's amber eyes were wide and fearful. She turned to Shredtail and was surprised to see annoyance in his eyes. "I have to go," she meowed uncertainly. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Her dark tabby friend turned away, lashing his tail. "Yeah. See you later," he grumbled.

Before Mapleshade could wonder what was wrong, Willowheart called for her again. She spun around and padded across the clearing to her smaller sister, bending down to touch her nose. "What's wrong, Willowheart?" she meowed softly so that the cats in the clearing couldn't hear her.

Her sister hesitated briefly. "Well, I can't explain it," she meowed nervously. "C-can you talk to Blizzardpelt? He can tell you what happened."

_Something happened?_ Mapleshade's heart leaped into her throat at her sister's words. Taking a deep breath, she looked past the silver tabby to Blizzardpelt, who was standing somberly in the entrance to the medicine den. His pale blue eyes were filled with concern as his tail twitched, gesturing to Mapleshade. She padded heavily over to him, paws dragging at every step.

Blizzardpelt studied his paws for a moment, then meowed, "Willowheart has the falling sickness."

Mapleshade's heart sunk. She didn't have the slightest idea what the falling sickness was, but it sounded ominous.

The white tom took a deep breath. "Today, while she was on a hunting patrol, Willowheart fell down and began to shake. She lost consciousness but kept moving. She began to foam at the mouth and wouldn't respond when any cat tried to talk to her." He paused for a moment, watching Mapleshade for a reaction.

But what reaction could there be? What expression, what words, could possibly reveal how she felt? There was nothing she could say. So she simply stared at him.

"I know it's hard to know what to think," Blizzardpelt mewed softly. "But there is one more thing. There's no cure."

Mapleshade turned around and gazed at her sister, lying so still and looking so small in the clearing. Her ragged, unkempt silver fur, her ravenous appetite and tiny frame, her weakness, and now this. _Willowheart,_ she thought, _what do we do?_

Blizzardpelt let his tail rest on Mapleshade's flank, its fluffy white fur startling against her tortoiseshell pelt. "I'm sorry, Mapleshade. But the only thing we can do is move her to the elders' den."

She spun, anger suddenly kindling in her. "The elders' den? No! My sister is not an elder! She's only been a warrior for two seasons; it's not fair!" When Blizzardpelt took a few pawsteps back, stricken, her rage drained away. "I'm sorry, Blizzardpelt," Mapleshade meowed, taking a deep breath. "It's just… the thought of Willowheart in the elders' den…"

The tom nodded, sighing. "I understand, of course." He hesitated, looking over Mapleshade's shoulder at Willowheart. "She won't be happy about it, but I'm afraid there isn't an alternative. What if she fell in a battle? She would be an easy target and her Clanmates would make themselves vulnerable while protecting her." Blizzardpelt bowed his head. "I wish there was something else I could say, but this is the only thing we can do."

Mapleshade dipped her head. "Yes. I understand. Have you already told her?" When the tom shook his head, she glanced at Willowheart. "I'll tell her, then. It'd be best if she heard it from me." Turning away from the medicine cat apprentice, Mapleshade went back and sat at Willowheart's side.

Her sister tilted her head back and stared at her. "What did he tell you?" she mewed. Mapleshade shifted her paws, not sure how to explain. "What did he say?!" Willowheart pressed, tail flicking nervously across the hard-packed camp ground.

Taking a deep breath, Mapleshade meowed, "Do you know what happened to you?" Seeing her sister's bewilderment, she added, "While you were patrolling. Did anyone tell you what it was?"

Willowheart tipped her head to one side, considering the question. "Yes," she meowed at last. "I wasn't really sure what to think, though, because I don't remember at all. I mean, I remember starting to fall, and then I remember waking up. But that's all. They said I started to shake, but I don't remember." Her eyes widened as if she was suddenly realizing the significance of the fact. "I don't remember anything."

"Okay," Mapleshade meowed, fighting to keep her voice clear and free of worry. To upset Willowheart would be cruel. But of course, her next words wouldn't help. "Blizzardpelt tells me it's something called the falling illness." She turned away, unable to face her sister any longer. "There's no cure."

From behind her, there was nothing but silence. Mapleshade forced herself to go on despite her instincts screaming for her to stop. "He says you have to move to the elders' den so that you aren't endangering anyone, including yourself." When the silence continued, she turned her head around and stared down at Willowheart.

Her sister's blue eyes were wide, clearly pained, but there was also a gleam of understanding in them. Struggling to her paws, Willowheart stretched her neck out and ran her muzzle across Mapleshade's cheek comfortingly. "I thought as much," she admitted quietly. "It makes sense. I've never been a good warrior – you said so yourself once."

"I didn't mean it!" Mapleshade protested, pulling back. "I was just angry! Of course you're a good warrior!"

But Willowheart was already shaking her head, ignoring Mapleshade. "No. You may have been angry, but in anger we're often the most truthful. I'm a burden to the Clan. Truthfully," she added, "I was expecting this to happen someday. I'm not blind to how frail I am, Mapleshade." She blinked at her sister, eyes warm. "I don't mind going to the elders' den. You'll just have to be twice the warrior for me."

An ache began, deep in Mapleshade's chest, as she stared at her sister. "I will," she whispered.

Willowheart nodded, then briskly got to her paws. "Well then, no sense sitting around here. I'll need to tell Emberfoot and Duckfoot, and of course I'll have to let the elders know." She blinked at Mapleshade, a gleam of wisdom in her eyes. "You ought to find Shredtail. I'm sure he wants to talk to you more."

"How can I go about like any warrior when you need help?" Mapleshade argued, standing as well. She towered over her smaller sister. "Shredtail is my friend; he'll understand, surely." _But will he?_ she wondered, recalling his annoyed expression from earlier.

"At least tell him what's happening," Willowheart pressed gently. "You said yourself he's your friend, so he deserves to know why you're fussing over me instead of doing what you're supposed to." She flicked her tail teasingly under Mapleshade's chin. "I'll be fine, I promise."

Mapleshade disagreed – if she could have, she would have stayed at Willowheart's side until they both went to StarClan – but she couldn't argue. Nodding nervously, she turned around and headed to the warriors' den, where she supposed Shredtail had gone.

He wasn't there. Noticing Ravenwing curled up in his nest, Mapleshade mewed, "Do you know where Shredtail is?"

The black tom raised his head, blinking blearily. "Hmm? Oh… I think he went back out into the forest."

"Thank you," Mapleshade told him as she turned to leave the den.

"Yeah," Ravenwing grunted, already sinking back into his nest. "Hope you find him."

Mapleshade slipped out of the den and padded towards the camp exit. On her way there, Breezestar slid in, nearly bumping into her. "Sorry," she apologized.

"Where are you headed?" her former mentor asked, looking at her curiously. "Wait, don't tell me – you're after Shredtail?" She nodded. "I saw him heading out; pretty sure he was headed for the Great Sycamore. He was moving quickly, so you'll have to hurry to catch up."

Mapleshade thanked him, then rushed out of camp in the direction of the sycamore. It was only a short distance from the camp, and she was quickly within sight of it. To her surprise, Shredtail – who had never shown much interest in climbing, given that his tail didn't help to balance him – was sitting on one branch that arched high above the ground, staring upwards.

It took a matter of moments for Mapleshade to leap up the tree until she reached his branch. Shredtail was draped languidly over the thick branch, eyes fixed on the darkening sky. As Mapleshade pounced onto the limb, he turned and blinked in welcome.

"I was going to tell you something important earlier," Shredtail meowed as Mapleshade sat down, "but Willowheart got you first."

She flicked her tail and settled into a more balanced position on the branch. "I'm sorry, but you know Willowheart is sickly. I have to make sure she's okay above everything else." It was too difficult to explain what had happened just then, so Mapleshade didn't try. Instead she waited from Shredtail to speak.

"I expected I'd get to tell you when the situation was right; it would have been easier then," he admitted, stretching his forepaws to scratch the thick bark of the sycamore. "Now it doesn't seem quite right. Although," he added with a glance at the sky, "I suppose it's more dramatic this way."

Mapleshade eyed him uneasily. _What's he on about?_ "If it's so important, just tell me," she meowed stiffly.

"See, you're acting strange," Shredtail pointed out. "I don't know what Willowheart wanted, but clearly it was more important than anything I needed to say."

"I wouldn't know that because you haven't told me what you want to say," Mapleshade growled. Shredtail's evasive manner was beginning to irk her.

The dark tabby tom shifted his position so that he was facing her more fully. "Fine. You want me to say it now, I'll say it now!" He frowned and didn't go on.

"For StarClan's sake, will you _say_ it?" Mapleshade snapped. "Don't lead up to it and just stop like that!" She began to turn away, intending to leap back down the tree. "I've got a lot to do in the camp, and if you're just going to waste my time –"

From behind her, Shredtail growled under his breath. "Fine! Stop, don't leave, I'll tell you." Mapleshade halted, glancing over her shoulder at her friend. He took a deep breath. "I love you, Mapleshade."

There was a long moment of silence between them – long enough for the sun to sink below the horizon.

"Is that all?" Mapleshade meowed at last, casting a chilly glare upon him.

Shredtail's mouth dropped open. "What do you mean, is that all?" He bolted to his paws, staring at her with wide green eyes.

Mapleshade curled her lip. "You really are just wasting my time, Shredtail. I have to get back to camp."

"Stop right there!" he cried, stalking forward a few pawsteps. "What do you mean, I'm wasting your time? How am I wasting your time? I told you what I wanted to say! Don't you have any reaction to that at all?"

"Willowheart has the falling sickness. She has to move to the elders' den," Mapleshade snapped at him. "Do you think I'm really concerned with your stupid feelings right now?" She lashed her tail. "Now, like I said, I'm going back to camp. You clearly don't have anything to say worth listening to, and my sister needs me." She turned away and loped down the branch towards the sycamore's trunk. When Shredtail began to follow, she hissed threateningly. "Keep away from me."

If she had bothered to turn back one last time, she might have seen the expressions crossing Shredtail's face – first bewilderment, then hurt… and then rage.


End file.
